


Fake it till you make it

by xJane



Category: SKAM (France)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Anal Play, Anal Sex, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Blow Jobs, Eventual Smut, Fake/Pretend Relationship, First Kiss, First Time, Hand Jobs, Lucille is pretty bitchy because the story needed a villain, M/M, Mutual Pining, POV Alternating, Strangers to Lovers, Team Elu FTW
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:01:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 35,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24930469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xJane/pseuds/xJane
Summary: So what if we've never met before today? All we're gonna do is pretend we're crazy in love. It can't be that hard, right? Especially not when you are hands down the hottest guy I've ever seen. What's the worst that could happen? Us having to fake a kiss? I'm down for it. Us falling for each other for real? Well... what are the chances ofthat?***Or, the one where Lucas and Eliott meet as fake lovers.
Relationships: Eliott Demaury/Lucas Lallemant
Comments: 311
Kudos: 461





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, remember when I said I was gonna write a quick fake dating fic while I kept working on some longer stories I have going?
> 
> Well. Remember kids, the best way to make god laugh is to tell him your plans.
> 
> Yeah. Here we are. About 30000 words of fake dating.
> 
> Option C of my poll (strangers pretending to date) won by the slimmest margin possible, so that's what I did first. But I have an outline saved somewhere for option B (secretly in love pretending to date) so that will probably be posted at some point too. Option A (best friends pretending to date) is not very far along, but I do have an idea, so who knows, maybe that one will also happen at some point.
> 
> So yeah. All ten chapters are written. Not written _well_ , mind you, so I'll have some heavy editing to do, but the story is basically ready. I'll just have to figure out whether I'm gonna try to stick to a posting schedule or just post whenever I am done polishing up a chapter.
> 
> Hope y'all enjoy!

“Lucas, I’m calling in my favour.”

That was _not_ the usual way Imane greeted Lucas when he was ten minutes late for their study session.

“Huh?”, Lucas replied as he took his books out of his backpack. “What favour?”

“The favour you owe me.”

“Imane, you know I love you to bits, but I don’t owe you anything.”

“Of course you do. How many times have I helped you with literature? You wouldn’t stand a chance at the bac if it weren’t for me.”

Lucas hummed. Imane did have a point, there.

“Yeah, but you never said you were going to ask for favours as payment for that. You can’t go change the terms and conditions after the fact.”

Imane looked at him shrewdly.

“Okay, I’ll give you that. You are right. It would be unfair of me. I’m sorry, Lucas. You don’t owe me any favours. By the way, Lucas, tell me, we have, what, a little over two months until the bac?”

Lucas had no idea what Imane was playing at, but it felt like he was walking eyes open into her trap. Still, he nodded.

“And you are ready for it, obviously, are you not?”

“Well,” Lucas said hesitantly, “we have a bunch of study dates scheduled, and if we follow your plan, we should be fine.”

“Ah,” Imane nodded gravely, “but I won’t be able to study with you anymore.”

“What?” Lucas' mouth fell open in shock. “What are you talking about? Why not?”

Imane looked at him with something on her face that would look like an apology to the untrained eye, but Lucas had known her long enough to see right through that.

“It’s just that if you won’t do this small favour for me, I will have to find another solution, and it will take all my free time, so you see… No more study dates for the two of us.”

Lucas sighed. He did not like the calculating smirk on Imane’s face, but he also didn’t like his chances on the literature bac without Imane’s help. 

“A small favour, you say?”

Imane’s face was all innocence, and Lucas knew it would be anything but small.

“A teeny-tiny favour. In fact, it’s hardly worth calling it a favour, really, I think you might even enjoy it.”

Lucas understood immediately he would hate the very idea of it. He didn’t react, and the silence hung between them, until Imane let an exaggerated sigh escape, and started closing her textbook and packing away her notes.

“Good luck, Lucas, I have some pressing matters to attend to…”

Lucas had no choice.

“Fuck, Imane, I hope you filled in blackmailer on the career orientation sheet! Okay, what do you need? I’m not saying I’ll do it, mind you.”

Imane sat down again.

“Of course you will do it, Lucas. Your bac depends on it. And why do you automatically assume it will be bad? Would I ever lead you astray?” – Lucas murmured she very much would, but she rudely ignored him – “I just need you to go to a party. That’s not such an ordeal, is it?”

“What’s the catch?”, Lucas retorted sarcastically, but already resigned to the fact that he would be going to a party on behalf of Imane. She was right, he needed all the help he could get for his bac.

“It’s tomorrow night. You can cancel any plans you have, right?”

Lucas just looked at her.

“Spill it, Bakhellal. The whole story, please.”

The triumphant look on Imane’s face told Lucas enough. She knew he would do whatever she needed, and once again, Lucas was glad he was on her good side. He’d hate to find out what it would be like to be on the bad side of the evillest mastermind he ever saw.

“Oh, thank you, Lucas! I knew I could count on you! You’re my best friend, I swear!”

Lucas levelled her with a truly imposing ‘not impressed’ glance. She quickly started talking.

“Okay, so my brother and Sofiane have this friend they’ve known since high school, and he is really nice, he’s very gentle and open and caring, a really good guy in fact, and…”

“Imane,” Lucas interrupted, “really? You are using your main trump card, and by that I mean my bac results, just to get me to go on a blind date? I thought we were past all that.”

Lucas had come out to the gang at the end of last school year, and for a while, the gang and the crew had declared it their mission to find him a boyfriend, until Lucas had put his foot down and managed to convince them he was not looking. Imane had never really been involved in any of it, and for that, he was truly grateful, so to have her doing this now had him blindsided.

“No, no, listen! He just needs some help right now, and that’s where you come in. He used to date this girl they also went to school with, but she’s not good for him, and he broke up with her, but she doesn’t want to let go. They were together for quite some time, a couple of years I believe, and she keeps saying he doesn’t mean it when he tells her they’re over.”

Lucas rolled his eyes. And they said gay romance was full of drama.

“I still feel to see what exactly you need from me.”

“I’m getting there! Eliott – that’s my brother’s friend – just wants to get her off his back, but she stalks him at university and at the art gallery where he works – did I tell you he’s studying arts? He’s really talented, too. Anyway, that’s not important right now. His ex doesn’t believe him when he says he’s over her, and so he needs to prove it to her. At the party she’s having tomorrow.”

“Imane, you’re the smartest woman I know, but you have completely lost me now. So you want me to go to her party, is that it? You want me to go to the party of some complete stranger and tell her some guy I don’t know from Adam is over her? What will that achieve?”

“You’re right about one thing. I do need you to go to her party. But not to tell her Eliott is over her, though, but rather to show her.”

“Show her? How the fuck am I supposed to that, if this Eliott can’t even do that himself after being with her for years?”

“You are going to pretend to be his boyfriend.”

Lucas couldn’t be more floored if the earth would have stopped turning.

He could have sworn Imane just said she wanted him to pretend to be some unknown dude’s boyfriend.

She stared at him. He stared at her. Neither of them moved.

The library clock was ticking very loudly. A girl three tables to the left was writing an essay, obnoxiously clicking her pen as she looked up a reference. One of the assistant librarians was shelving books a few meters to the right, her heels tapping on the hardwood floors. A tree branch appeared and disappeared in front of the window as it quivered in the spring breeze.

Lucas didn’t notice any of that.

“What?”

“You are going to pretend to be his boyfriend,” Imane repeated calmly.

Fuck.

This was so much worse than a blind date.

“But I don’t even know the guy!”

“I will tell you what you need to know.”

Lucas felt the panic rise.

“But that is stupid, Imane! Nobody will believe that. Besides, why would a straight guy have a boyfriend?”

His voice sounded shrill and the librarian shushed him.

“Seriously, Imane,” he continued in a whisper, “this is just madness!”

Imane tutted.

“It’s not, Lucas. Eliott is pansexual. And being with someone else will make his ex back off.”

“But why doesn’t he take another girl? Or somebody who he actually knows? Why can’t you go?”

“She knows me. Remember, Idriss, Sofiane and Eliott were in school with her, and they have been friends for ages. She probably heard about me and Sofiane dating.”

“Somebody else then! Doesn’t he have friends from university he could have fallen for?”

“Lucas, please. It is one evening. I don’t know who else to ask.”

Lucas sucked in his breath.

“Why not? Is he that repulsive? Is he an asshole? Does nobody he knows want to spend an evening with him?”

“Lucille would never believe it if he suddenly showed up with any of his friends. And I am hurt, Lucas, that you think so badly of me. As if I would ask you this if he was a repulsive asshole.”

“Well, what else would you have me believe? There must be something wrong with him if he’d rather pretend to date somebody he’s never even seen than just go find somebody himself, whether to date or to fake date.”

“He’s timid, Lucas. He doesn’t easily open up to people.”

Lucas sputtered, ready to refuse, but Imane cut him off.

“Just think about the bac, Lucas. I’ll send you his details after we study. He’ll let you know where to meet him tomorrow. Now, where were we?”

She buried her head in her notes, and Lucas knew the discussion was over. Fuck. He just sold himself out for a grade.

***

Eliott didn’t know why he ever agreed to go along with Idriss’ harebrained plan. 

As if it wasn’t embarrassing enough that Lucille didn’t just believe him when he said he was over her. 

He sighed.

Now he stood here, waiting on a guy he’d never even seen, let alone talked to, and his friends expected him to pull off acting crazy about the dude convincingly enough to persuade Lucille to accept it was really over between them.

He should stop drinking so much around Idriss and Sofiane. Drunkenness was the only reasonable explanation for why he’d ever gone along with this stupid idea. Stupid, irresponsible, rash, reckless. It would never work. Futile, daft, senseless. The only thing he could rationally expect was to make an ass of himself, quite possibly out of his “date” too, and end up with Lucille even more certain he was eventually coming back to her.

He didn’t even know who they'd managed to talk into this. When his last sober brain cell had pointed out that he didn’t know anybody he could pull this fool-hearted scheme off with, Idriss had tutted and flapped his hands, as if that was the least complicated part of his masterplan. He had muttered something about Imane’s friends, and had handed him another beer, and Eliott had continued his useless attempt at drowning his sorrows.

Yesterday, when Imane had sent him the number of one of her friends, he’d known it was stupid, and he’d almost deleted it without any further action.

But then his treacherous brain had started listing the options. One, he’d go to Lucille’s party with Idriss and Sofiane. She’d be all over him all night, trying to kiss him, pressing herself against him, calling him her boyfriend. He’d probably drink too much to try to get away from it, and there was a significant risk that he’d get too out of it to resist, and he’d fall prey to her once more. That was right out. Two, he’d stay at home. Lucille would believe him to be moping, upset over the break-up, so hung up on her still he couldn’t even face coming to a party. She’d come over the day after, and wouldn’t believe a word he’d say, using his absence as fresh ammo, firing round after round until he’d give in, just to get her to stop. So that was out too. Three, he could go with a boyfriend. A fake boyfriend. All they had to do was pretend to be crazily into each other for a night. Lucille would try to call their bluff, but they wouldn’t give in. Finally, she’d get angry with him and leave him in peace. All he had to do was fake being in love. It might work. But she’d see right through that, wouldn’t she? They’d been together for years; she knew him better than that. And then she’d know how weak he was, how desperate he truly was to get her away from him; and she’d be all the more determined to not let go. So that was out, too. Four – four –

There was no option four.

Fuck.

He had realised option three was the only one offering at least a _chance_ of getting through this unscathed.

And it wasn’t like he was leading anybody on – well, except Lucille. It was not really a _lie_ , was it? It was more like – an act. A play. A high stakes poker game.

He could do that. Right? Right.

And that’s how he had ended up texting Imane’s friend – Lucas – it was time he started calling the guy by his name if they were supposed to be all over each other in a few minutes – and was now waiting nervously, a block away from Lucille’s house.

He probably should have thought this through, he thought dejectedly. He didn’t even know what Imane’s friend – Lucas, he corrected himself – looked like. He didn’t know the first thing about him. What did he study? What were his hobbies? They wouldn’t fool anybody if he didn’t even know the most basic things about his so-called boyfriend.

Hell, they hadn’t even come up with a story. How did they meet? How long were they together? Who made the first move?

Lucille was definitely going to pry. 

Eliott might have convinced himself he could act, but he didn’t know his lines, didn’t even know if Imane’s friend – Lucas – and he were going to be in the same play.

This was insane.

He should call Lucas, call the whole thing off. Go home, get drunk, and deal with the consequences later. Maybe he could go stay at Idriss’ for a while, make sure she could never corner him alone, use his friends as a shield – fuck, he really was pathetic.

He fished his phone out of his pocket, ready to text Lucas, when he saw a figure coming up to him. It was already getting dark, and he couldn’t really make out much. But it looked to be a boy, phone in hand, as if checking an address. A bit shorter than Eliott. A hood over his head.

The figure came up to him.

“Eliott?”

Fuck. He couldn’t tell Lucas the plan had changed _now_ , not when he had already made all this effort.

He sighed.

“Yeah. Are you Lucas?”

The boy nodded, then put away his phone.

For a minute, they just stood, awkwardly, not really looking at each other.

For the first time since Idriss had come up with this arrangement, Eliott wondered why Lucas was here. Why did he agree to help out a guy he’d never met? Did he think it was his moral duty or something, to rescue a dude who was so utterly pitiful he couldn’t even break up with his long-term girlfriend properly without needing assistance? How much did he know about Eliott? What had Imane told him?

The doubts crept back up.

This was never going to work. 

Better to get away now, with both their dignities relatively intact. He scraped this throat.

“So – uh…”

Lucas turned towards him.

And then he took off his hood and looked him straight in the eye.

Oh.

_Oh._

Fuck.

Lucas was… attractive. Handsome. Striking, even. His eyes were the biggest and the bluest Eliott had ever seen. Suddenly, the idea of getting lost in those eyes all night did not seem like such a bad thing. 

Lucas smiled at him, a small, tentative curve of his lips. 

Yeah. Cute. Very cute. Alluring.

He could pretend to be into Lucas, all right.

He cleared his throat again, nerves buzzing through him.

“You ready to go earn your Oscar, then?”

And at that, Lucas laughed. Brightly. His head into his neck, open-mouthed, grinning widely at Eliott as he nodded.

And oh, oh. Fuck didn’t do it. Neither did cute. Lucas was _beautiful_ , gorgeous, stunning. And Eliott was in deeper shit than he had been five minutes ago. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All right, here we are with chapter two, in which the game suddenly gets a whole lot more interesting.
> 
> Chapter three probably coming around Wednesday!
> 
> BTW, just a general housekeeping note: I'm not gonna put content warnings for stuff that's up in the tags, so please pay attention to them.
> 
> <3

Lucas stopped Eliott just as they were about to enter the party. He thought maybe they should hold hands, or Eliott should put an arm on his shoulder or something, so it would be clear immediately what they were – or rather, what they were pretending to be.

“Eliott, wait. Uhm… Should we – uh –”

He couldn’t force the words out.

Eliott turned back to face him. Lucas hoped it was dark enough for the blush he felt creeping up to remain invisible.

He was nervous. He told himself it was just because they were supposed to be convincing a whole lot of people he didn’t even know that they were dating, and not because Eliott made him nervous. 

Imane had been right about one thing. Eliott was definitely not repulsive. In fact, Eliott was as far away from repulsive as they came. Lucas thought he might be the most beautiful guy he’d ever seen. It was not light enough under the streetlamps to discern the colour of his eyes, but he could make out they were bright and expressive. His jaw was strong, his skin smooth and even, his lips looked velvety and warm. Broad shoulders, tall, lean. Hair spiking in all directions, which should have looked messy, but actually seemed to scream an invitation at Lucas to run his hands through it. He’d bet it would be soft. Lucas hadn’t really known what his type was, but he seemed to have gotten a pretty accurate idea as soon as he took a good look at Eliott.

Eliott hummed, waiting for Lucas to finish his sentence.

Lucas willed his blush to disappear, forced himself to speak.

“I was just thinking… You know… Maybe it would be more realistic if we… if we – held hands, or something?”

He gestured vaguely between them.

“Oh.” Eliott seemed taken aback by the suggestion. “Yeah – maybe…”

“Only if you want to,” Lucas was quick to add. “I mean, we don’t have to, obviously…”

“No,” Eliott cut in, “you are right. We’re probably going to have to do some… PDA… to convince my ex, anyway.”

Oh.

Lucas gulped.

“Uhm… okay?”, he said, hating how hesitant he sounded.

Fuck, maybe he should have taken the gang up on their promises to find a guy for him, perhaps then he wouldn’t feel so woefully inexperienced and unprepared for this. What would Eliott want from him?

“Just some hugging and stuff like that, of course!”, Eliott clarified hastily. “We won’t have to kiss or anything, evidently, don’t worry about that.”

Lucas could not decide whether that was good or bad news. He did however know he was going to worry about it either way.

“Uhm, yeah, good, all clear,” he mumbled, his blush back in full force.

“But holding hands is a great idea…” Eliott said, his voice low. “If you still want to. I mean, if it doesn’t bother you.”

“Uhm, no. It’s fine.” 

Lucas thought he managed to sound pretty casually about it all.

“Okay,” Eliott said. “So – uh…”

He reached out his hand.

Lucas took a deep, steadying breath, and put his hand into Eliott’s outstretched one. He tried not to focus on the strange feeling. Eliott pulled him closer to his side by their linked hands. Lucas heard him take a breath, and mumble _Okay, Demaury, you can do this_. He wished he had the same confidence in his own abilities, but he had no more time to worry about it when the door suddenly opened.

In front of them stood a tall blonde. She was pretty, Lucas decided. She smiled broadly when she noticed Eliott.

“Eliott!”, she exclaimed. “I’m so happy you made it. I missed you so much!”

She made a move, opening her arms as if to embrace Eliott, and Lucas almost let go of Eliott’s hand to allow the hug, when Eliott abruptly squeezed and pulled Lucas in front of him.

“Good to see you too, Lucille. This is Lucas, my – boyfriend.”

Lucas hoped the slight catch before the word boyfriend had not been as noticeable to the girl as it had been to him. Then all of a sudden, the name Eliott had used registered. Lucille? Hadn’t Imane said Eliott’s ex-girlfriend’s name was Lucille? 

Holy shit. This girl, who looked like she could be a model, was Eliott’s ex? Fuck. No way she was going to believe he’d settle for Lucas if he could be with her.

Eliott put his arms around Lucas’ waist and leaned against his back, his chin on Lucas’ shoulder. Lucas managed not to gasp at the contact, but it was a near miss.

Lucille’s eyes narrowed.

“You have a boyfriend? Why have I not heard anything about that? Idriss and Sofiane are here already, they didn’t tell me you would bring a boyfriend. What silly game are you playing, Eliott? Come on, drop the act.” She waved at Lucas dismissively. “Your… little friend here can stay, but no need for childish pretending.”

Her casual dismissal annoyed Lucas. Sure, no way he could ever land a guy like Eliott, unlike _Lucille_ , but she didn’t have to be so arrogant about it.

He put his hands on Eliott’s, pulled them together over his stomach.

“It is new,” he said, with a hint of a challenge in his voice. “I still don’t know how I managed to catch him, but now that I have, I don’t plan on letting go.” He smiled, all sweetness and innocence. “Hi, Lucille. Thanks for letting me tag along. It’s just that I don’t want to be away from Eliott if I can help it, I’m sure you can understand.” He giggled shamelessly. “How do you two know each other, by the way?”

Lucille’s face hardened.

“I’m Eliott’s girlfriend.”

“Ex,” Eliott threw in, a harsh tone to his voice.

“Oh!”, Lucas feigned shock. “Oh, sorry!” He turned towards Eliott. “So this is the girl you talked about?” He looked back at Lucille, whose mouth was pressed into a tight line. “I’m so sorry, Lucille, Eliott did mention something about an ex-girlfriend, but I didn’t pay too much attention, I must admit. He made it sound like she was a bit of a mess, to be honest, but I probably misunderstood, you are so nice! I am so glad the two of you are still friends! Maybe we could all go out for coffee together sometime soon, what do you think?” 

Lucille, who had opened her mouth to interrupt, snapped it close again. She looked from Lucas, who beamed at her with his most naive expression on his face, to Eliott, who just tightened his grip around Lucas. Then she turned around.

“Fine, come in. This isn’t over yet, Eliott!”, she warned him, as she stormed off.

Lucas turned around, but Eliott didn’t let go of him, so now he was facing Eliott, surrounded by his arms.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. I probably messed it up already…”

“Lucas,” Eliott interjected, “you were fucking amazing! That was so fucking awesome, I don’t know where you got all that! Fuck, you’re incredible!”

“I am?”, Lucas asked doubtfully. “But I was so mean to her.”

Eliott shrugged.

“Okay, maybe a little. But she’s been very belittling of me – and you, too, so I think she deserved it.”

Lucas didn’t look convinced.

“Lucas, I don’t know how much Imane told you, or even how much Imane really knows, but Lucille has been… not very good for me. We got together when we were very young, and it was nice, in the beginning, but over the years she became… controlling, and overprotective. Manipulative, even. I’ve been wanting to end things with her for a long while, and I even tried to a couple of times, but… I don’t know…” He ran his hands through his hair and pulled with his fingers at his bottom lip. “It’s just hard, I guess. She knows everything about me. She told me I’d never find somebody else to love me, who’d stick with me, and… I guess she just knows all my weaknesses and triggers, and I believed her, so I always came back to her.”

Lucas could not believe the insecurity shining in Eliott’s eyes. 

“Hey,” he said softly. “You don’t have to tell me.”

“No, I – I want to,” Eliott replied. “You must think I’m pretty pathetic, to bring a fake boyfriend just to be able to face my ex.” He ignored Lucas’ quick _No, not at all!_ “I just wanted to explain a little. She is still trying to get me back under her control, and sometimes… it is hard for me to not give in. She is familiar and safe, and without her, I have to decide things for myself. That’s – that’s scary, I suppose? But I want to. I want to make my own choices. Anyway – enough about that… I guess what I’m trying to say is that you may have been a bit mean, but at least now she knows she won’t be able to just walk over us. She’s always pretty much been able of doing just that with me – god, I really sound like a spineless worm. You must think I’m a complete fool, totally worthless.”

“No,” Lucas stated again, a bit more vehemently this time. “You said it yourself. You were young when you got together, and it just became a habit over time. But you stood up for yourself eventually, so you’re not spineless at all. I’m just glad I could help.”

To his own amazement, he meant what he said. Yesterday, he’d voiced some of these feelings to himself, right after he had received the address for today’s meeting. He’d wondered how much of a hopeless case Eliott must be to not be able to get rid of his ex by himself. But after meeting Eliott, those thoughts had dispersed rapidly. Eliott just seemed too kind to stand up for himself. Well, at least for tonight, it seemed like Lucas would be fighting for Eliott. It was nice, to be able to help somebody like that.

He grinned at Eliott.

“Come on, let’s go find a drink to celebrate our victory.”

“Oh, let’s not count our chickens before they hatch, Lucas. We – or better, _you_ – may have won the first battle, but the war ain’t over yet – not by a long shot…”

Lucas shrugged. They’d deal with the rest of the war when it came.

***

Eliott was enjoying himself. He had his arm over Lucas’ shoulder as they were standing with Idriss and Sofiane. The boys had quickly introduced themselves to Lucas, and let him know under their breath they were in on the fake dating situation, but after that, they’d been just a bunch of guys hanging out, talking about stupid shit. The three older ones had been telling horror stories about their bac to mess with Lucas, but Lucas was giving as good as he got – _Maybe you guys struggled so much because you don’t have my superior intellectual prowess_ , or, going in for the kill, _I’m not worried, I’m studying with_ your _sister_ – indicating Idriss – _and_ your _girlfriend_ – indicating Sofiane – _and you wouldn’t dare to say anything about her being inadequate now, would you?_ He had laughed out loud when the two of them had started muttering something, but the subject had quickly changed to other stuff.

Suddenly, Idriss’ smile got a bit tighter.

“Heads up, guys. Lucille is coming.”

Immediately, Eliott pulled Lucas closer, and Lucas’ hand came up to grab Eliott’s fingers where they dangled over his shoulder. Eliott immediately felt calmer, and stronger. He had been floored when Lucas had said all those things earlier. He’d been perfect, he’d implied so many things with his flirty statements. He had sounded breathless as if they’d barely left their bed since they supposedly got together. Even more impressive, he’d managed to treat Eliott’s previous relationship to Lucille with some sort of easy dismissal, no hint of jealousy, sounding like somebody who knew he had absolutely nothing to fear from his partner’s ex and could afford to be magnanimous towards them.

Eliott wanted to perform just as well in round two as Lucas had in round one. Lucas squeezed his hand softly, and Eliott felt like he could handle anything.

Just in time, because Lucille had reached them, a big smile plastered on her face.

“Hello, boys! Hope you are all doing fine. Sorry I haven’t come to talk to you guys yet, I had to greet so many people.”

They all nodded sagely, but remained silent.

“So! Lucas!” She tittered, a high laugh escaping her. “Tell me all about you! I have to make sure you are good for El, I’m sure you understand.”

Eliott knew she used the nickname on purpose, and it infuriated him. 

But Lucas squeezed his hand again, and laughed carelessly.

“Oh, of course! What would you like to know? I’m pretty boring, I’m afraid.”

“Surely not! Why would El be interested in you, if you are so boring?”

Score Lucille. Lucas opened his mouth, but Eliott decided it was his turn now.

“You’re just being modest, baby,” he muttered, his lips in Lucas’ hair. God, it was so soft. Lucas stiffened slightly at the pet name, but got it back together quickly. Eliott noticed how a pretty blush crept up on his cheeks, and he used his free hand to trace it, Lucille momentarily forgotten, until he heard her breathe out a phoney laugh.

“You two look so cute together!”

Eliott laughed.

“Thanks, Lucille. I’m really lucky.”

“Oh? Tell me. Why’d you fall for him, then?”

Her mocking friendliness grated on his nerves.

“Have you looked at him?”

Eliott pulled Lucas closer, let his arm fall of Lucas’ shoulder to rest on his hip, intimately. Lucas blushed deeper. The guy was good.

Lucille laughed again, high and loud.

“Surely there is more to him than looks? Otherwise you might lose interest quickly, El!”

God. She had hardly ever used a nickname for him in the five years they were together, and now she threw it around as if it was nothing.

“Oh, I doubt it. Lucas is incredible. He is really smart. He wants to study astrophysics after the bac.”

Thank god they had just discussed Lucas’ plans after the bac.

Lucas cut in.

“That’s just studying, though. Anybody can do that. I wish I was creative like you. I’m so jealous of your artistic talent.”

Eliott almost wanted to ask how he knew that, but managed at the last moment to mutter something along the lines of _Thank you, baby_.

Idriss cut into the conversation, lazily and confidently.

“Don’t sell yourself short, Lucas. Eliott cannot shut up about that time you played the piano for him.”

Lucas played the piano? Or did Idriss just make that up? He hoped not, because it would become hard to keep track of what they had come up with in no time, if they deviated too far from the truth. He needed to ask Lucas as soon as possible.

Lucille smiled.

“Maybe you can play something later tonight, Lucas.”

Lucas shrugged nonchalantly.

“If you want.”

Okay, so he probably did play the piano then. Suddenly, Eliott wished Lucas had really played something for him, just for him. He imagined those slender fingers dancing over the keys. 

“What else? You fell for him because he’s good-looking, good at science, and plays the piano?”

She didn’t bother with the fake laugh anymore, just glared between them.

Eliott hummed noncommittally.

“Pretty much, yeah. I mean, I only found out he’s amazing in bed later on.”

Lucas, who had just taken a swig of his beer, almost choked. Shit. 

“Baby? You okay?”

Lucas blushed fervently now, but quickly tried to cover up.

“Sure, baby. I just didn’t know you were going to talk about our – sex life.”

His breath hitched slightly, not very noticeably, but Eliott picked up on it. Fuck. A bit belatedly, he started wondering exactly how experienced Lucas was. Lucille seemed to have perceived something too, because her eyes suddenly narrowed shrewdly and her smile became more like a smirk, as a cat toying with a mouse.

“Oooooh, sensitive subject?”

Fuck. Oh well, in for a penny, in for a pound.

“Lucas is a bit shy, is all. He asked not to tell anybody about it yet. I’m sorry I forgot, baby, but I’m sure you will keep our secret, right?” Idriss and Sofiane nodded, playing along wonderfully. “It’s just hard for me sometimes to not dwell on that amazing mouth of you, baby.” He looked at it, pointedly. Lucas didn’t meet his eyes, his cheeks now blazing.

Lucille pressed the point.

“If you are really as good as Eliott says, Lucas, you don’t have to be shy about it with us, right, guys? It’s only normal to have sex with your boyfriend, isn’t it?”

Lucas took a breath. Eliott wanted to say something, change the subject, wishing he’d never even brought it up, but Lucas spoke before he had a chance.

“It’s not a big deal. It’s just that I was a virgin when I met Eliott. I was a bit unsure about my… skills, but well, Eliott can’t get enough of it, so I suppose I must be doing something right. I’m just not ready to tell my friends yet, they can be nosy and I don’t want to have to explain the details to them. Anyway, unless you guys really want to get to the down and dirty, maybe we could change the subject?”

He laughed, and it sounded natural, but his hand found Eliott’s again, and his fingers trembled. Shit. Eliott felt like an ass. He should never have brought up sex, not without discussing it with Lucas first. Lucas was probably really embarrassed and self-conscious, and Lucille kept staring at him as if she was trying to figure out what he was hiding.

“Oh, sure. I mean, it might get awkward if we had to start comparing how well we could get him off, right?”

Lucille’s laugh was back and she stared directly at Lucas. Lucas dipped his head slightly, as if he felt ill at ease.

“No contest,” Eliott muttered darkly, and kissed Lucas on the cheek.

Sofiane tried to save everybody from another stand-off.

“Hey, Lucille, do you have plans for the Easter break?”

Lucille turned towards him. She was beaming, and Eliott felt suddenly very uncomfortable. Lucille had never really liked his friends, probably because they always argued that she was too overbearing.

“Sofiane! I have a great idea!”

Uh-oh. Sofiane didn’t look very happy, either. He must have picked up on something too.

Lucille smiled widely.

“I had planned to go on a break out of the city with some friends, since we all have four days off over Easter weekend. You know, rent a cabin, relax a bit before the final semester starts and we all have to study our asses off.”

“Nice,” Idriss chimed in. “Sounds like fun. Hope you’ll enjoy it.”

“Oh, but it will be perfect! You all are coming, right?”

Nobody reacted.

“Oh, come on, guys, it’ll be great! Elise is coming, Natalie too, maybe – they were in high school with us, Lucas – and my friend Marie from university, and Elise’s boyfriend Vincent. But it’s a huge cabin, so you guys should definitely come! You can bring your girlfriend, Sofiane,” – Idriss muttered something along the lines of _Our parents would not allow it_ , but Lucille kept going, “and Idriss, I don’t know if you are seeing someone, but bring her too, and of course, Lucas and Eliott. Don’t worry, we’ll figure something out to have enough separate rooms for the couples, even if us poor singles have to sleep on the couch!”

She finished with a smug look.

Idriss and Sofiane looked at Eliott. Eliott looked at Lucas. Lucas looked at Eliott as a rabbit into headlights.

Idriss started to say something, _Didn’t you need to go visit your grandparents, Eliott_ , or something like that, but Lucille talked over him.

“Oh, come on, guys! I’m sure you can cancel your plans, if you had any. Four days away amongst old friends. It’ll be great!”

Lucas opened his mouth.

“I wouldn’t want to intrude… I mean, you all have known each other for so long…”

“Nonsense! Of course, you are welcome, you are our El’s boyfriend! And just think, Lucas, a long weekend with actual adults,” her voice got a condescending tone to it, “so you wouldn’t have to keep your _fantastic_ sex life a secret for once. All of us are mature enough to handle it, unlike your high school friends.”

Eliott almost felt personally attacked by her sneer. But before he could react, Lucille played her final ace.

“Or is there some other reason why you can’t do it? Like, you’re not really together at all, or something crazy like that?”

She looked all of them in the eye, one by one, triumphant.

Idriss looked away first. Sofiane, to his credit, held her gaze, and so did Lucas. Finally, her eyes found Eliott’s.

She knew something was up. Fuck, this was exactly why option three should have been out. He couldn’t let her win, or she would never back down.

So he pulled Lucas in front of him again, his arms around him, tight, bracing. He prayed Lucas would forgive him.

“Sure. Lucas and I will be there.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please feel free to point out any errors.
> 
> Also, I'd be so happy if you left me a comment, if you'd like!
> 
> <3


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Elu getting closer - figuratively, at least.
> 
> Place your bets now: are they going on a trip or not?
> 
> I _am_ going on a trip. I'm going to be out of the country for a bit (Finally open borders!) so I've already done most of the proofreading of chapter four, I'll be back by Friday and get it ready for posting that night!
> 
> [For those who might be interested - A little trick I learned when taking classes about written communication: your eyes don't actually see every letter or even every word when reading. If you ever saw that text where all the letters in every word are jumbled, you'll know this. When proofreading your own material, your eyes take in even less than they would reading another text, because your words are still stored in your short-term memory. This effect can be combatted by waiting 24 hours before doing your final proofread, since your short-term memory will be wiped overnight.]
> 
> Hope you'll enjoy this chapter, we're reaching the end of the set-up so we'll be ready for some action soon!
> 
> <3

“I’m so sorry, Lucas,” Eliott rushed out, almost as soon as the door closed behind them.

They’d left not long after their little talk with Lucille, with her hugging both of them, reminding to keep the Easter weekend free, telling Eliott she’d text him all the details soon.

Lucas didn’t react, just tugged at Eliott’s hand, still clasped in his own, until they were a block away, almost right where they had first met up only a few hours earlier.

God, how the world could change in a few hours. When he left school today, he was grumpy about having to go on a pretend date with what he had deemed to be some loser who couldn’t get his love life sorted on his own. Then he’d met Eliott who looked like he could be a poster model adorning the walls of all gay teenagers in Paris. Then they’d got to the party, met Eliott’s mates, and they’d fallen into an easy banter as if they had been friends for months instead of having met that same day on a street corner. And _then_ Lucille had shattered their comfortable evening with her prodding and stirring – resulting in Eliott promising they’d go on a trip together two weeks from now.

And that was without even mentioning all the talk about his non-existent sex life.

At this point, Imane should probably write his bac for him, to make up for the shit she had landed Lucas in. 

Lucas let go of Eliott’s hand and leaned against the wall of an office building.

“So what do we do now?”

Eliott pulled on his bottom lips again. Lucas started to recognise it as a sign of nerves.

“Fuck, Lucas, I am sorry. I don’t know. I’ll tell her you had a family emergency or something. Or I can just say we broke up, whatever. You don’t have to come with… you don’t have to do that.”

Lucas hummed. It was the best solution. They would never manage to pretend to be head over heels in love for four days somewhere in a secluded cabin. Hell, they’d barely gotten away with it for four hours at a party teeming with people.

“I’ll make something up, Lucas, don’t worry. You went above and beyond tonight already.”

Lucas sighed.

“It was definitely an experience, I’ll give you that.”

“You were fucking great, Lucas. I don’t know how I would have survived that without you, even with Idriss and Sofiane there.”

Lucas hummed again.

“I’m serious, Lucas. You were marvellous. The way you just went along with everything… I’m so sorry it was so awkward, I shouldn’t have brought up sex. God, you did me a huge favour and I mortified you as a thank you, I’m just worthless…”

“Hey,” Lucas stopped Eliott’s self-castigation, “it’s okay. I’m sorry I was so embarrased by it all. I should have been better prepared.”

“No, no, you didn’t do anything wrong… I should have asked you if you’d be okay with it, I shouldn’t have let her rile me up, she always does that, she gets under my skin and I just fall for it every time…”

“Either way, it doesn’t matter,” Lucas interrupted Eliott before he could launch another self-depreciating tirade. “I won’t see her ever again, and if I run into Idriss or Sofiane through Imane, I’m sure they won’t rub it in too much.”

“I’ll ask them to forget it completely. After what you did for me, you don’t deserve any teasing about any of it. Anyway. So, I’ll just tell Lucille in a couple of days we broke up, then?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Lucas consented.

“Okay. Thanks, Lucas. I mean it. I couldn’t have asked for a better pretend boyfriend. You saved my life tonight. I don’t know how to ever thank you enough.”

“It’s fine, Eliott, don’t worry. Bye, then. Maybe I’ll see you around.”

Suddenly, Lucas didn’t want to leave. He’d probably never see Eliott again. He’d keep wondering if Eliott ever managed to convince Lucille to leave him in peace, or whether they’d ended up back together. God, he hoped not. A sharp pain shot through his stomach at the idea. Maybe he’d find a way to ask Imane… Or maybe not. It was none of his business, after all. He turned, ready to walk off. There was nothing more to say.

Eliott leaned against the wall Lucas had just vacated.

“Bye, Lucas. And thanks again.”

Eliott seemed exhausted. This evening had really been hard for him, Lucas realised. He was glad if he had made it somewhat bearable. He stood still for a second, watching Eliott, who had closed his eyes and was breathing hard, as if he struggled to get enough air in his lungs. He pulled his hand through his hair.

Lucas should leave. He should walk away, not make things any more complicated than they already were.

“How do you think she will react when you tell her we broke up?”

Eliott had obviously thought Lucas had left, because he startled visibly.

“Fuck, you scared me!”, he exclaimed, then added in a calmer voice, “I don’t know. She’ll probably assume I’m heartbroken and double down on her spiel about how nobody but her could ever love me.”

“You should say you dumped me.”

Eliott smiled.

“As if.”

Lucas smiled back, a strange warmth flowing through him at Eliott’s words.

“I don’t care, if it helps you in any way.”

“Thanks, but I don’t think it’d matter much who did the presumed dumping. She’ll just spin it as a sign that I belong with her.”

Lucas nodded, thoughtfully.

“So you’re saying that all the progress we made today will be erased?”

He cringed a bit at his casual use of ‘we’. It had really nothing to do with him. Eliott however didn’t seem to mind too much. He looked resigned.

“Yeah, maybe. But I’ll find a way to handle it, Lucas,” he said dejectedly.

Lucas sighed.

“Or I could just come with you.”

Eliott’s head whipped up and he stared at Lucas as if he’d just grown an extra head.

“What?”

Lucas retreated.

“If you wanted me to, I mean. But yeah, it’s probably a stupid idea. You don’t want to be forced to hang out with a practical stranger for four days, that’s completely understandable. Sorry, just me being an idiot. Forget I said anything.”

Eliott grabbed his wrist.

“You’re hardly a stranger anymore, Lucas. I wouldn’t mind hanging out with you for a couple of days, quite the opposite. But it wouldn’t be – just hanging out, Lucas. It’d be us pretending to be together 24/7 for a couple of days, with Lucille no doubt trying to trip us up every chance she gets. I cannot ask you to do that.”

“You didn’t. I offered.”

Eliott looked at him, with a strange mixture of awe and uncertainty on his face.

“It would be incredible if you wanted to do that, Lucas. But I doubt we could pull it off. We almost tripped up today. Like I had no idea you played the piano…”

“We’d have a few weeks to prepare, this time.”

Eliott nodded, thoughtfully.

Lucas wondered why he was pushing for this. He’d done what he came to do. Nobody could expect more. He’d done the civil thing, offered to help some more, Eliott had thanked him politely but gave him an easy way out, and yet here he was, arguing in favour of the most idiotic idea ever. Even Basile would see there was only possible way for this whole adventure to end: total and complete disaster. Lucas should get out while he was ahead. But he found he couldn’t.

“You really think we could do this?”

Lucas shrugged.

“I don’t know. But if we give up now, it was all in vain. No way to find out unless we try.”

“We’d have to share a bed.”

Lucas blushed.

“We’ll designate sides.”

“We’d have to kiss.”

Lucas found he wasn’t so opposed to the idea as he should be.

“What’s a kiss between friends?”, he tried to joke, going for flippancy, but his voice sounded serious.

At his words, a wide grin bloomed on Eliott’s face. It was the happiest he had looked all night. Lucas couldn’t keep his eyes off it, how Eliott’s face lit up, his eyes crinkly and reflecting the pale light from the streetlamp.

“We’re friends now?”

“I guess so. I mean, I wouldn’t pretend to date just anybody.”

They laughed, and suddenly Eliott threw both his arms around Lucas and pulled him tightly against him. Lucas could almost feel his heartbeat. Eliott was already practicing for the weekend up ahead, he supposed.

“You are a literal angel. Okay, Lucas, let’s do this. You and I are officially fake dating.”

***

Eliott was wide awake. He knew he should sleep, but he was just too jazzed up.

Tomorrow morning, he would leave on a trip with Lucas. Oh, he knew it wasn’t just Lucas. In fact, the whole reason he was going with Lucas at all was that other people were going along. There would be eight of them: Elise and Vincent, Marie, Idriss, Sofiane, Lucas and himself, and of course, Lucille. He was glad Idriss and Sofiane were coming along too. Lucas and he needed people on their team. His friends hadn’t seen eye to eye about the latest developments, though. When Eliott had called them to beg them to come along to help him and Lucas pull off their act, Sofiane had objected fervently. He was convinced this whole fake relationship spelled bad news. He had never been a big fan of it since the beginning, when Idriss had suggested it. In the end, he had admitted it might have its merits, if Eliott showed off a new boyfriend at a party, under the assumption Lucille would give in and accept that Eliott had moved on. But when that had clearly backfired, he’d been in favour of aborting the whole operation. Idriss on the other hand, true to form, had argued for doubling down and going all out.

Maybe he should have listened to Sofiane. He’d always been the smartest of the three of them.

But it was too late now.

Lucille had been informed that the four of them would attend, and Eliott and Lucas had been working out the details of their fake romance. They’d got their stories in line, they knew each other’s birthdays and how they took their morning coffee and what music they listened to, Eliott had sent Lucas some pictures of his art, Lucas had confessed to his aversion of literature, and they had followed each other on Instagram and liked each other’s pictures. It would have been better if they posted some stuff showing them together, but Lucas hadn’t wanted to have to explain things to his friends, so they had decided they’d tell everybody they were waiting to become Instagram official until Lucas had had a chance to tell his parents, which he hadn’t been able to do yet since he didn’t live with them and he wanted to do it in person.

Eliott had asked at that point why Lucas lived in a flat share. At first, Lucas had made some throwaway remark about _trouble with my parents_ , but then he’d started talking about his mom, who was in a care facility, being treated for a mental illness. He’d told Eliott how he’d felt like a bad son for the longest time. Eliott had wanted to comfort him, tell him it wasn’t like that, tell him that it wasn’t easy to love somebody with mental problems, but he did nothing, just listened to Lucas talk.

They hadn’t been able to meet up in person since Lucille’s party, both busy with school and friends and jobs and assignments, but they had texted and video chatted practically every day. Eliott knew how Lucas laughed loudly when Eliott made stupid jokes. He knew how Lucas looked away when he wanted to figure out how to formulate his thoughts but also how he kept looking Eliott straight in the eyes when he wanted something from him. He knew how Lucas’ eyes got big and bashful when he told Eliott something personal. That last part filled Eliott with pride, how Lucas had trusted him with things not everybody knew about him, having faith in Eliott to handle Lucas’ secrets with care.

He knew Lucas was all prickly at the outside but cared fiercely for his friends. He was open and honest, but also demanding and sassy and stubborn as fuck. He knew Lucas was not a stranger to messing up, but he accepted responsibility and tried to make amends when he did.

He also knew how fucking gorgeous Lucas looked when they chatted late in the evening, when he was in bed in a big t-shirt that was soft with wear, and only a small nightlamp lit his face.

One night, Lucas had confessed to his old crush on his best friend, Yann, and Eliott had felt a pang of jealousy, wishing Lucas would get that soft look on his face talking about him. But it had passed in an instant, and he’d told himself he’d only imagined it, or that it was just his brain forgetting for a second that Lucas was not his actual boyfriend.

He had completely ignored the small but insistent voice saying he’d never cared about Lucille talking about other guys.

He wished he could call Lucas right now. They had been talking every evening and somehow, it helped Eliott wind down. Usually, after they had gone over whatever important facts and figures they had thought of during the day in their preparation for the trip, they’d just start talking about their days, their friends, their dreams, their struggles, until Lucas’ eyes became droopy and his voice drowsy. Eliott loved those moments, it felt like they were friends, sharing their lives with each other.

He honestly considered Lucas a friend by now. He had laid awake in bed a couple of nights ago, after Lucas had yawned one time too many and had ended their call, and he’d wished he could have met Lucas in another way. In the fake first meeting story they had come up with, they met at Idriss’ one day, Eliott hanging out with Idriss, Lucas coming over to study with Imane, the two of them bumping into each other in the kitchen when they both needed a drink. It easily could have happened. Eliott had wondered about it. How Lucas and he could have become friends, hanging out occasionally. Maybe they could have really fallen for each other, Eliott had mused. He’d fallen asleep pondering it, how it might have been to fall in love with Lucas.

He looked at his phone. It was after midnight. They were supposed to leave early in the morning. Sofiane would pick them up, borrowing his father’s car, and drive the four of them, Idriss included. Lucas was probably sleeping already, making sure he was well-rested to tackle the coming days.

He sighed and put his phone down. He’d see Lucas tomorrow. Tomorrow night, he’d get to fall asleep next to Lucas. Surely, he could manage one evening without talking to him.

Just as he clicked off his light, his phone pinged.

His heart skipped a beat when he saw Lucas’ picture on his screen.

“Hey,” he whispered.

“Hey,” Lucas mumbled back, clearly exhausted. “Did I wake you up?”

Eliott regretted that it was not a video call. Lucas always looked beautiful, but late at night, sitting in his bed, ready to fall asleep, he was especially tempting. It felt like Eliott was the only one who got to see Lucas like that. Still, just hearing his voice was fine too. More than fine.

“No,” he replied softly. “I couldn’t sleep. Thinking about tomorrow. Why are you up so late? You ready for the show?”

Lucas stayed silent for a bit, then he breathed audibly.

“I’m not sure,” he admitted. “I couldn’t sleep either. I guess I’m just nervous.”

Eliott felt a wave of guilt crash over him.

“You could still back out,” he had to force himself to get the words out, “I can still say we broke up.”

The words rose like bile in his throat.

Lucas sounded hesitant when he replied.

“Do you want me to?”

“No!”, Eliott almost shouted, “no, I don’t want you to. But if you are nervous about it… It’s not about what I want, Lucas. I don’t want to cause you any discomfort. It was always selfish of me to expect you to do this.”

“We’ve been over this, Eliott. You didn’t expect me to, I offered. I want to help. You deserve to make your own choices and to be believed and supported when you decide on a path.”

Eliott did not know what to say. Lucas was so incredibly generous. 

“Thank you, Lucas. Thank you so much. I’m sorry helping me is making you nervous, though. I’m basically forcing you to lie.”

“It will be okay. It’s only for four days.” 

_And three nights_ , Eliott couldn’t help but think. Four days during which they were supposed to be in love, and not able to keep their hands off each other, and three nights during which they would share a bed.

And during which he was very much supposed to keep his hands to himself. He hoped he’d manage.

“Yeah,” he said, after he realised it had been quiet for a while. “Only four days. And Idriss and Sofiane will be there.”

He assumed Elise had been recruited on Lucille’s side. If Lucille really suspected Lucas and he were faking it, he expected she had briefed Elise. The two of them had been friends since before high school, and even though Eliott and Elise had always gotten along just fine while he and Lucille had been dating, she was definitely on team Lucille – always had been, whenever Lucille felt like Eliott had fucked up in their relationship. He’d only met Elise’s boyfriend Vincent a couple of times, and Eliott didn’t think he’d be informed about the situation. He had seemed a nice, easy-going type the few times he and Eliott had talked. He didn’t know Lucille’s uni friend Marie, so he had no clue how much Lucille would have told her. All in all, he went by the assumption that the women would be suspicious and be on the lookout for any possible slip up. Vincent would probably have no reason to mistrust Eliott and Lucas, but still, they should be careful. 

Lucas didn’t answer, probably following the same thread of thought in his head, measuring up team Eliott versus team Lucille.

“Hey,” Eliott murmured. “Last chance. Are you sure you want to do this? I won’t hold it against you if you back out.”

Lucas scoffed.

“Stop asking. We’re doing this, Demaury.”

Eliott liked that. The idea of him and Lucas, together.

“Okay. We are.”

Lucas laughed softly.

“Now can we talk about something else? I need to get rid of these pesky nerves and sleep, or you’ll have to tell Lucille you’re dating an actual zombie.”

Eliott smiled. He hoped this meant Lucas had gotten accustomed to falling asleep to his voice, as much as Eliott had grown accustomed to watching Lucas drowsing off as he told him about his day.

“Sure. Want me to tell you about my class today?”

And as he heard Lucas settle in his bed, and yawn, he felt important somehow. He couldn’t wait to talk Lucas to sleep in person.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please feel free to point out any errors I still have left even after waiting 24 hours before my final proofread. 😉
> 
> Also, if you'd like, leave me a comment please. They warm my heart.
> 
> <3


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Elu are going on a trip and feelings are starting to build up... maybe even get heated for a bit! Ah, if only our boys could see what we all know!
> 
> Chapter five is probably coming on Sunday. I know you are all waiting for a certain something... 👀
> 
> Hope you enjoy!
> 
> <3

Lucas had grown quiet as they neared their destination. The nerves he had played down yesterday evening were back in full force and he felt slightly nauseous.

What the hell had he been thinking?

He was going to spend four days in a cabin with people he barely knew, some of them he’d never even met, and at least one of them didn’t want him there and would probably treat him quite hostile. He was younger than all of them, the only one still in high school, who wouldn’t be able to talk along with the rest about their lives as college students. He didn’t have anything in common with most of them. And on top of that, he was supposed to be crazy about Eliott.

Eliott. 

Eliott, who right now seemed to sense Lucas’ mood, because he grabbed his hand and intertwined their fingers without a word, seamlessly keeping up his banter with Idriss who was riding shotgun.

Lucas threw Eliott a grateful look.

The shadows had grown longer as the sun sunk lower. The afternoon was slowly making way for the early evening.

They were scheduled to arrive in a few minutes, and then the game was on. Here, in the car with just Idriss and Sofiane, they didn’t have to pretend yet, but as soon as they got to the cabin, they probably would not get a chance to take off their masks until they went to bed.

Lucas had mixed feelings about the bed part. It would be a safe haven, where they could take a break from acting, where it would just be him and Eliott. It would be like every evening over the past two weeks. Except they would actually be within touching distance. Sharing a bed.

Lucas hadn’t ever really shared a bed with a boy, or at least not in a meaningful way. He’d stayed over at Yann’s many times, and they had slept in the same bed when they were younger, but as soon as Lucas had realised his feelings for Yann went further than what was normal between friends, he’d always crashed on the couch. Yann had remarked on it later, after Lucas had come out, something about he didn’t mind sharing a bed with Lucas even if Lucas was gay, but Lucas had shrugged it off and they’d never discussed it again.

And now he was going to sleep together with his fake boyfriend.

Not how he’d imagined that first.

But then again, it could have been worse.

Eliott was kind and selfless and patient and sweet. Not a bad bedpartner at all. He knew Eliott would respect any boundaries Lucas might set. He strongly suspected Eliott would even offer to sleep on the floor, if Lucas would voice any qualms about sleeping together. But Lucas had already decided that was not going to happen. If it came down to it, he’d bring out the argument that they really shouldn’t take any chances. Lucille might try to come into their room at night, or somehow check up on them. 

Eliott squeezed his hand again.

“Lucas? We’re about to arrive. That’s the cabin up there.”

Lucas looked at Eliott, who was already looking at him. They stared at each other for a minute, until Idriss turned around and Sofiane glanced at them in the rear-view mirror.

“Okay, you two,” Idriss declared, “game faces on. You ready for this shit?”

Eliott studied Lucas intently. Lucas breathed in, assembled all his courage, and looked up.

“Ready as I’ll ever be. Let’s do this.”

Idriss cheered, as he hopped out of the car and started to get their bags out of the trunk. Sofiane was slower to get out. He watched both Eliott and Lucas, and his eyes found their linked fingers.

“I hope this doesn’t end in tragedy, guys. Idriss and I will try to help you out where we can, but it’s up to you now. Good luck.”

Lucas swallowed the nerves away. His heart leapt to his throat, beating wildly.

With one last look at Eliott he got out of the car. Eliott followed quickly, not letting go of his hand, slinging his arm over Lucas’ shoulder so that their intertwined hands were immediately visible to anybody.

Anybody meaning Lucille, who came through the front door before they had made their way up.

“Finally! You guys made it! Why are you so late?”

Idriss laughed and hugged Lucille, which she seemed to accept a bit reluctantly. He quickly let go.

“My fault, Lucille! When they came to pick me up this morning, I was still asleep. I forgot to set my alarm, and then I had to pack in a hurry. I hope I didn’t forget anything.”

“And then because he had had no breakfast, he made Sofiane stop for a coffee and some pastries first, and then at a hamburger place around noon. You know Idriss likes his food, Lucille,” Eliott added.

None of this was true, of course.

They had left bright and early as planned, but during a rest stop they had decided to take their time, have lunch on the road, and arrive close to dinner time, so Eliott and Lucas would have to keep up their act for as little time as possible. 

“I did text you, Lucille,” Sofiane stated calmly as always. “Didn’t you get it?”

“Oh, yes, yes, no problem! Just so glad you are all finally here!”

Lucille hugged Sofiane, and then Eliott – a bit longer, a bit closer. Lucas noticed how Eliott went stiff and shook her off. His hand found Lucas again, and their fingers linked together again. By now it felt familiar to Lucas, and it grounded him somehow. They were a team.

“And Lucas, of course!”, Lucille thrilled. “Come on in, the rest is in the living room, they’ve been dying to meet you.”

The four of them grabbed their bags and followed her in.

Lucille quickly introduced everybody. Her friend Elise was a short brunette, in appearance almost the opposite of the tall, statuesque Lucille, but as Eliott had explained, they were very much alike in character and had been friends for years. Her boyfriend Vincent had long hair in a ponytail. He sat reading a sports magazine, a bit apart from where the girls had evidently been having some wine by the fireplace. He stood up and shook the guys’ hands, saying he was glad for some male company. He and Idriss started talking soccer immediately. Lucille’s university friend Marie had short blond hair and had tattoos on every visible patch of skin. Again, she looked very different from the polished Lucille, but she was undeniably cool. She seemed outgoing and very fun to be around. Lucas thought you’d never be bored when she was present. She smiled genuinely at him.

Lucille clapped her hands as the introductions were made.

“Come on, boys, I’ll show you your rooms. There’s five of them, so Sofiane, Idriss, you’ll share. There’s a bunk bed in your room, I’ll leave it to you to fight for the upper bed amongst yourselves. Elise and Vincent are next to you guys. Then it’s Marie, and then me. And then it’s Eliott and Lucas. Your room has a huge bed, you lucky lovebirds.”

Sofiane and Eliott exchanged a look.

“Couldn’t Elise and Vincent swap with Eliott and Lucas?”, Sofiane asked nonchalantly. “You know Idriss, he will try to catch them in the act. Might be handy if he doesn’t have to wake up the whole household in the process.”

Lucille snickered.

“Why would you want to do that, Idriss, my dear? Anyway, sorry guys, Elise and Vincent have already unpacked. Should have gotten here earlier if you wanted to call dibs. You’ll just have to keep your nightly escapades quiet, I suppose, Idriss. And the two of you too, obviously, Eliott, Lucas. Don’t want to listen to you guys going it at all night!”

Lucas managed to keep his blush somewhat under control.

If Lucille had ulterior motives in keeping the boys as far apart as possible, or getting the room next to Eliott and Lucas, there was nothing to be done about it now.

Sofiane and Idriss disappeared into the first room, and true to Lucille’s prediction, they started bickering about who got which bed almost immediately.

Lucas, still holding Eliott’s hand, followed Lucille all the way down the hallway, where she held open the door to their room. They walked in, and she hadn’t lied. The room was relatively small, and most of it was taken up by a large bed.

“Forgot to say that every room has a bathroom attached, it’s through that door over there,” Lucille pointed out. “Okay, I’ll give you a few minutes to unpack, but hurry. We need to get dinner started soon. See you!”

And with a cheery wave, she closed the door behind them.

Eliott went over and locked it, as Lucas put his bag on the bed.

“We should probably lock the door if we’re in here,” Eliott said. “That way, nobody can surprise us. If Lucille asks, we can just say it’s so Idriss can’t catch us in the act, as Sofiane put it.”

Lucas nodded.

“So.”

He stopped at that, looking at the bed.

Eliott came over and stood next to him.

“Side preference?”

Lucas shook his head.

“Me neither. Okay, you take the side closer to the window then, I’ll take this side.”

He put his bag on the side near the door.

“Hey,” he mumbled, watching Lucas. “So far, so good.”

Lucas nodded again, not trusting his voice at that very moment.

“Let’s go,” Eliott said. “The sooner we get out, the sooner we can come back in.”

Lucas couldn’t decide whether that sounded more like a promise or a threat.

*** 

Somehow, Eliott and Lucas had ended up on cooking duty. Idriss had complained, of course, saying Eliott couldn’t cook to save his life and that they were all bound to spend the next four days in their beds with food poisoning – which, in and of itself, might not be the worst idea to get away with the next four days of fake dating, but then Eliott had remembered Lucas’ pale face when he had stood in front of the bed, and he had decided to try and avoid that fate. So he’d tossed out a careless _Oh, but Lucas is a great cook, I’ll just do exactly as he says_ before even thinking. Lucas had looked at him with some desperation in his eyes, but he’d confirmed he was able to get something edible out.

The kitchen area was separated from the living room by a large bar. The others were gathered around the fireplace, so Eliott and Lucas didn’t have a lot of privacy, but they were far enough away to whisper without fears of being overheard.

“Sorry,” Eliott muttered. “Didn’t think. Do you know how to cook?”

“Not really,” Lucas answered in a low voice. “But I can cook pasta, and Manon thought me some sauce recipes. And I can manage some salad. I suppose we can get away with it for one dinner. But if we have to cook again, the ruse will be up.”

“No worries,” Eliott said confidently. “We’ll say we already did our bit, and the others should take care of dinner the other evenings. There are only two more dinners, anyway, since we’ll leave after lunch on Monday.”

“Okay. So, how bad exactly are you?”

He looked at Eliott quizzically.

Eliott huffed.

“People are just not ready for my level of geniality. Tell me, what the fuck is wrong with an omelette with cinnamon and fennel?”

Lucas looked nauseated.

“Cinnamon and fennel?”

“Okay, maybe that one is for a more acquired palate. What about blueberry-bacon muffins, though? Sounds good, right?”

Lucas turned around and started grabbing bowls and utensils.

“I think it might be for the best if you stick to setting the table and doing the dishes.”

“Oy!”

Eliott swatted Lucas’ ass with the kitchen towel, and Lucas laughed out loud. It sounded like a spring breeze in the small kitchen.

“Come on. I’ll show you how to toss the salad. You probably can’t do much wrong with that.”

“I wouldn’t count on it. Idriss says I can fuck up a peanut butter sandwich.”

“How? Do you put the peanut butter on the outside of the bread?”

Eliott laughed too. Then he hugged Lucas tightly.

“Play along. Lucille is watching us.”

He let his hands slide down slowly over Lucas’ back, which was turned towards the living room. He let them rest on the swell of Lucas' ass, right at the waistband of his jeans, fiddling with it.

“You okay?”

Lucas mumbled a faint _yeah_. Eliott slid his fingers inside Lucas’ jeans, nosing his hair. Lucille was still looking, an annoyed expression on her usually schooled features. 

Eliott giggled. 

Lucille abruptly turned her head, saying something to Marie, and she didn’t look in the direction of the kitchen again.

Eliott assumed he should let go of Lucas now. There was no purpose to being all over each other if nobody was looking. For some reason though, he found he didn’t really want to stop.

Then he caught Sofiane’s eye. There was something in his gaze, something Eliott couldn’t decipher from this distance. But it was enough for him to let go of Lucas.

~

Dinner had been approved by the whole company, several people going in for seconds, and Lucas had blushed under the compliments. Eliott had found it adorable.

The conversation had flowed easily amongst the group, several people still getting acquainted with each other, finding things in common, shared interests or ideas.

Lucille had been throwing a bunch of questions at Lucas and him, but they’d fielded them all easily, until Vincent had made a remark on it, and Lucille had stopped.

For some reason, they all had decided to go to bed early. They’d all had a rather tiresome day travelling, and they wanted to get out early and explore the town tomorrow.

So after cleaning up, they’d all retreated into their respective rooms, cheery _good nights_ called out through the hallway.

As agreed earlier, Eliott locked the door as soon as he and Lucas were in. The sound echoed through the room.

Lucas sat down on the bed gingerly. Eliott took place next to him, close but not touching Lucas.

“That went pretty well,” he joked.

Lucas nodded, but didn’t look up.

It occurred to Eliott that Lucas might not have too much experience sharing a bed. He remembered the awkwardness at Lucille’s party, when they had talked about sex. In one of their late-night phone calls, Lucas had admitted he’d never really been in a serious relationship. A pang of guilt shot through Eliott. He really was a selfish bastard, putting Lucas though all this. He wanted to put Lucas at ease, let him know how much he appreciated him.

“You want to use the bathroom first?”, he asked. “Take a shower if you’d like, I don’t mind waiting for a bit.”

Lucas looked at him. Damn, those blue eyes.

“Yeah, I think I will. Thanks,” he replied, ever so politely. 

Eliott watched how Lucas grabbed some clean clothes and his toothbrush from his bag and disappeared into the bathroom, a tight smile around his lips.

God. The tension could be cut with a knife. Eliott almost laughed out loud. He’d have thought things would be fraught with difficulties when they were around Lucille, not when they were alone and could drop all the pretence. It seemed like when they were performing, at least they knew what they were. In here, everything was blurry. Were they friends? They’d shared a lot during the past few weeks, but they had never hung out just like themselves, only as their phoney persona of boyfriends. They hadn’t found the basic functional rules of their budding friendship. Was Lucas comfortable touching his friends, hugging them? Was he usually open or rather timid? Was he the one who made the plans, or the one who followed them? Was he the one who set the rules, the one who obeyed the rules, or the one who broke the rules? There was so much he didn’t know about Lucas.

He laid on his back on the bed, staring at the ceiling, listening to the water running behind the bathroom door. He closed his eyes.

Without realising it, his thought drifted to Lucas again. He wondered if Lucas would wear the same shirt to bed as he had worn during some of their calls, the one that looked so soft, the one that gaped at Lucas’ collarbone, showing off a mole Eliott found incredibly cute. He’d been trying to imagine how Lucas would taste if he were to press his lips to that mole. He thought about their hug in the kitchen, how his fingers had touched Lucas’ skin for the briefest of moments, and how good it had felt. Lucas’ skin always looked so warm and soft. If Lucas was his boyfriend for real, he’d be allowed to see more of it, every glorious centimeter of it. He envisioned standing under the shower with Lucas, the water drops rolling down over his shoulders, his chest, down to his abs. Eliott would follow one with his eyes, then the next one with his fingers, then the third with his tongue. He didn’t want to stop at Lucas’ abs, but he couldn’t decide where to go next, whether to swerve out over his hipbone down to his thighs, or rather curve in to wrap his mouth around – 

Fuck.

Lucas was doing him this huge, immense favour, and here he was, fantasizing about him, right before they were supposed to share a bed, something he strongly suspected Lucas was nervous about.

And if that wasn’t bad enough, his body had made his interest in his fantasies very clear.

And the sound of the shower had stopped.

Fuck.

As he heard the tap at the sink running and Lucas brushing his teeth, Eliott hurriedly sat up, grabbed a shirt, and held it in his lap.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

He was a creep. A selfish, perverted creep.

Lucas came out a few moments later in his boxers and a clean t-shirt. Eliott didn’t dare look at him, didn’t dare finding out if it was the same shirt, just stood awkwardly, keeping his back to Lucas as much as possible, and mumbled something about going to shower, and that Lucas didn’t need to wait up.

He darted into the tiny bathroom and breathed in relief.

He turned the shower handle all the way to cold.

Not that it had been cold enough, evidently, because he came out and the sight of Lucas’ towel hanging up to dry – the fabric having been as close to Lucas’ skin as Eliott wanted to be – almost made him need a second one.

He debated camping out in the bathroom until Lucas would be asleep, but he saw the light creeping in under the door and he deduced Lucas was waiting for him after all.

So he left the bathroom and got into the bed, wrapping himself in the blanket.

“Is it okay if I turn off the light?”, he asked.

At Lucas’ nod, he flipped the switch. The room was suddenly dark. Only a narrow strip of moonlight came in through a gap in the curtains. It made everything feel very intimate somehow.

Eliott turned towards Lucas, finding the latter on his side, looking at him.

The silvery light gave him an ethereal look, and Eliott wanted to pull him close, wrap his arms around him, protect him. Then he realised he himself was probably the biggest danger to Lucas right now, and he sighed.

“Everything okay?”, Lucas inquired tentatively.

Eliott just shrugged.

“It’s weird, after all those times we talked until I almost fall asleep, to actually be here now,” Lucas confessed, his voice small in the dark.

“I know,” Eliott agreed. 

“Can you –”

Lucas stopped himself, and Eliott thought he could just make out a faint trace of pink on his cheeks. He thought he’d do anything for Lucas, whatever the latter wanted or needed from him.

“What, Lucas?”, he prodded, trying to keep his voice calm, gentle.

“Could you maybe just tell me something again? I’ve kinda gotten used to falling asleep listening to you…”

Lucas sounded so bashful that it was all Eliott could do not to cuddle up to him and never let go again.

“I’m that boring, huh?”, he chuckled.

Lucas shook his head, wanting to protest, but Eliott cut him off.

“Kidding, Lucas. Of course I can do that. Have I told you about that time Idriss, Sofiane, and I went to this urbex party together? It was just crazy, let me tell you…”

Lucas’ eyes fell close as Eliott recounted the story, and his breathing got slow and even.

Eliott smiled.

He wouldn’t mind falling asleep like this for… well, at least the next two nights.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please point out any errors you may find!
> 
> Also, if you'd like to leave me a comment, please do. Rest assured you'll be making my day!
> 
> <3


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hypothetically, if somebody were to have been writing a story while in church (through Zoom), do you think they'd go to hell? Asking for a friend...
> 
> Ahum.
> 
> Anyway, here is chapter five. It is just slightly shorter than the previous ones, but the contents should make up for it. And if you're still not happy at the end of this, I can already tell you that chapter six is the longest one in the whole story and should be up Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest.
> 
> <3

The day had been long and could have been fun, if Lucas hadn’t felt anxious about his act the whole time. They had been exploring the little town nearby, where there had been a charming Easter market, and before they’d known it, it had been dinner time. They’d decided to eat out at one of the restaurants on the market square, and it seemed Lucille had dropped her suspicions of Eliott and Lucas, at least for the time being. The discussion at the table had actually been pleasant, although Lucas hadn’t said much. Eliott had put his hand on Lucas’ thigh after the meal, and Lucas had blushed at that, but nobody had commented on it, and the warm heaviness of it had made Lucas feel a bit drowsy.

He had slept like a log the previous night. Somehow, though, he must have moved in his slumber, because when he had woken up this morning, he had laid on his side with his back towards Eliott, and Eliott had been spooning him, his arm slung over Lucas’ waist. Luckily, Eliott had been sleeping soundly, and Lucas had managed to extract himself without waking him up.

He’d fled to the bathroom, all flustered and hot, and he’d taken a cold shower.

Eliott had been awake when he’d come back into the bedroom, but he hadn’t mentioned anything, and they’d gotten out together to face the day.

Lucas had tried not to think about it while they were all out together, but memories of Eliott holding him close had crept up more often than Lucas had been ready to admit. It had added another layer of strain to the game he and Eliott were playing, and Lucas had been glad when they had arrived back at the cabin. The constant pretending had left him rather tired.

Yawning a bit, Lucas had planned to retreat for the night, but before he could say anything, Marie suggested a nightcap by the fireplace, and he didn’t want to be the kid who refused, so they all settled down on some plushy pillows while Vincent, who had a knack for it, stoked up the fire.

Marie and Idriss prepared some drinks, and Eliott had been deemed capable of opening up some snacks without ruining them. Elise turned off the lights in the living room, so the room was illuminated only by the dancing flames. It was all very cosy.

Eliott plopped down some overflowing bowls with snacks, and sat behind Lucas, his legs splayed open, and pulled Lucas against his chest.

“You okay, baby?”, he murmured in Lucas’ ear.

Lucas nodded, his eyelids heavy.

“A toast!”, Lucille exclaimed enthusiastically.

“To friends, both old and new, and lovers, also both old and new!”

She shot a pointed look at Lucas with those words, but he ignored them. He was too tired to be sassy, after deflecting her barbs for most of the day. Let Eliott handle it for a while, he thought.

Eliott obviously didn’t deem it worthy of an answer, since he just raised his glass. Lucas followed suit, and they all drank the sweet but heady concoction. Marie could probably teach Emma a lesson or two, Lucas contemplated.

“We should play a game,” Sofiane suggested.

“God, no,” Idriss groaned. “I’m not moving any body part except for the hand holding my cup, Sofiane.”

Elise giggled.

“We can think of a game where we don’t have to actually move,” she said, burrowing closer to Vincent, who laughed in response.

“Like what?”, Marie inquired.

“Ooooh!”, Lucille suddenly tittered. “I know! Truth or drink!”

“Oh, come on, Lucille!”, Elise said incredulously. “That’s lame.”

“Yeah,” Idriss agreed, “what are we, a bunch of high schoolers?”

“Well, Lucas is,” Lucille snapped back.

“Mean, Lucille,” Marie retorted, smiling at Lucas. “It wasn’t Lucas who brought up the high school games.”

Lucille seemed annoyed.

“Well, do you guys have a better idea then?”

Nobody reacted.

Vincent mumbled something about Never have I ever, but that idea got shot down just as fast.

After a while, Elise said: “I suppose we could play truth or drink, I don’t mind.”

Sofiane objected some more, but the others seemed set on it by now, so in the end, he gave in. He looked over at Lucas and Eliott. Lucas felt Eliott shrug. If Eliott wasn’t too worried, Lucas decided he wouldn’t be either. He was too tired, and possibly just a bit too tipsy, to worry anyway.

Of course, after a couple of rounds and some more of Marie’s drinks, the questions got dirtier and dirtier. Lucas noticed how Lucille would be targeting him and Eliott often, while Sofiane and Idriss would only ever hit Vincent, Elise, or Marie. Lucas felt too shy to really get into it, mostly softballing his questions to Eliott or Sofiane. He nursed his drink, not wanting to get too out of it, acutely aware of the risk of tripping up somehow.

Lucille’s questions became more and more invasive. 

_Eliott, what is Lucas’ and your favourite sexual position?_ – _I couldn’t care less about positions_ _as long as I’m with Lucas_ , Eliott answered, lazily, a sensual lilt to his voice.

 _Lucas, who bottoms, you or Eliott?_ Lucas opted to drink, blushing fervently.

 _Eliott, whose dick is the biggest_ _out of the two of you_ _?_ Eliott did not reply, but flashed a heated look at Lucas and smiled, mumbling _I’m just very, very lucky_ , which caused Lucas to cough, Vincent to cheer Lucas loudly, Marie and Elise to coo and Lucille to shush everybody down irately.

After that, Sofiane asked Lucille why she was so obsessed with Eliott and Lucas’ sex life, and Lucille toned it down somewhat, asking them about less intimate details, like where they had their first kiss and who had initiated things between them. Luckily, they had those stories rehearsed, and they hadn’t need to drink too often.

Marie, it turned out, had no shame and answered even the raciest questions. Idriss didn’t care too much about his privacy either, but he seemed to really like Marie’s cocktails, because he quickly got really drunk. His laughter got loud and boisterous, and his questions raunchier. He and Marie were volleying some time, shooting each other preposterous inquiries, almost flirty in a weird way.

Lucas didn’t care, at least it took the heat of him and Eliott.

He had snuggled up closer to Eliott throughout the evening, enjoying Eliott’s warmth in his back, the weight of Eliott’s arms on his waist, Eliott’s expressive hands moving restlessly in his lap, Eliott’s face against his hair.

As the strange game between Marie and Idriss went on for a while, Lucas lost interest, and instead focused on Eliott’s closeness.

Eliott would make a perfect boyfriend, he pondered.

He was so kind and sweet. Lucas imagined Eliott to be the sort who’d put a spider carefully outside, too goodhearted to hurt any creature. 

He was so tender and caring with Lucas, too. Constantly checking in on him. Telling him about his life, trusting him with it. Listening to Lucas, really listening, as if what Lucas was saying was the only thing that mattered to Eliott. If he was like that with a fake boyfriend, Lucas could hardly imagine how he’d be with a real partner. Lucas found himself wanting to be the object of Eliott’s affection, the recipient of all his bright smiles, being allowed to cuddle up to him like this whenever he wanted.

Eliott was talented and creative and passionate. When he loved something, he loved it whole-heartedly, unashamed. His eyes lit up when he talked about his interests, his grin spread wide, as if he couldn’t help himself, couldn’t keep his feelings in.

And of course he was heart-stoppingly gorgeous.

Lucas took another sip of his drink, and felt himself mellow out. Occasionally, Eliott would throw in some remark during the conversation, and his breath would fan out against Lucas’ cheeks. At one point, he thought he’d felt Eliott’s lips brushing his ear, but he wasn’t sure.

Suddenly, he got a daring idea. If he just turned his face slightly, he could kiss Eliott on the lips.

Nobody would question it – well, except for Idriss, and Sofiane, and Eliott himself. But they wouldn’t be able to comment on it, after all, Lucas and Eliott were supposed to be dating, and according to their comments tonight alone, they’d done a lot more than just an innocent chaste kiss on the mouth.

All rational thought left Lucas. All he could see were Eliott’s lips – so red, so plump, so inviting, so enticing. 

Just a peck.

A quick taste.

That was all he wanted.

Eliott probably wouldn’t mind, would he? Eliott wasn’t as woefully inexperienced as Lucas, he’d probably kissed dozens of guys, it wouldn’t be a big deal for him.

Lucas looked around. Everybody seemed riveted by Idriss and Marie, whose questions had progressed into the downright ridiculous, and the laughter grew louder all the time.

It was late, and there was a strange atmosphere in the room. The fire had died down quite a bit, and it was mostly dark, with shadows dancing around as the flames flickered.

Lucas decided to go for what he wanted. It was time to reach out and get it.

He took a deep breath, and completely missed the fact that Idriss and Marie had obviously exhausted the depths of their game, and Marie had just addressed Lucas.

So when Lucas turned his head towards Eliott, everybody else turned theirs towards Lucas.

Lucas’ lips pressed against Eliott’s. It felt like paradise, until a gasp escaped Eliott and several other gasps echoed through the room.

Lucas’ eyes flew open, and even in his haze, he noticed everybody staring at him – including Eliott, his grey eyes dark, unreadable.

Immediately, his cheeks burned brighter than the fire.

Fuck.

***

Eliott almost thought it was a dream, that Lucas kissing him was a figment of his imagination, until he heard Elise’s voice through the fog.

“You know, that’s the first time I see you guys kiss. So cute, too! Look, Lucas is even blushing!”

She sounded pretty drunk. However, Lucille had had a lot less to drink, and was way more astute than Elise.

“Yeah, isn’t he precious! It almost looks like he’s never kissed Eliott before.”

Her voice got a calculating quality to it.

Shit. Eliott looked around quickly. Elise and Vincent were pretty out of it, and chances were they wouldn’t remember too much of this in the morning. So was Idriss, not that that mattered, because he and Sofiane were in on the secret anyway. But Marie and Lucille were not nearly drunk enough to not start to suspect something.

He tried to think fast, but that kiss had short-circuited his brain enough to be stuck on Lucas’ lips. He flicked his eyes to Sofiane, but Sofiane, at the worst time ever, seemed at a loss too.

In the end, it was Idriss, who almost certainly had no clue as to what he was saying in the first place, who blurted out: “Yeah, right, never kissed before. They’ve probably been holding back for you, Lucille, because on the way over here I saw their tonsils more than I ever hoped to, I swear!”

Lucille’s tone was hard.

“Oh, yeah? Well, guys, please don’t mind me. I’m sure you’ve been dying for a kiss all evening. So go ahead, be my guest, I beg of you.”

Lucas looked up at Eliott as a frightened deer facing the hunter’s rifle, an apology all over his eyes.

If he’d taken a second to think about it, Eliott would find he was not sorry at all. Whether put on the spot by Lucille or not, he’d not let the chance to actually kiss Lucas go to waste.

But he didn’t take a second to think about it.

Instead, he bowed his head, and pressed his lips to Lucas’.

Lucas made a small noise, and it turned Eliott on to no end.

Taking advantage of the unexpected opportunity, he slid his tongue over Lucas’ bottom lip until Lucas opened his mouth and let him in. He licked into Lucas’ mouth as if he was starving. His hand came up to Lucas’ hair, and he tangled his fingers into the locks, his other hand turning Lucas a bit more so the angle was easier and he got better access.

Lucas moaned into his mouth, and Eliott deepened the kiss involuntarily, wanting to get more, everything, everything Lucas was willing to give.

Lucas melted in Eliott’s arms, and he pulled him closer, until no air was left between them and their bodies seemed to fuse together quite as effectively as their lips.

Eliott lost all understanding of the concept of time. They could have been kissing for a minute or an hour, and still it was not enough.

Before he could get his fill, the need to breathe interfered, and Eliott reluctantly lifted his face.

Lucas whimpered, his eyes closed, his lashes fanning out on his deliciously pink cheeks.

Eliott made an executive decision.

“Okay, end of the show. Lucas and I are gonna go to bed. I’ve been wanting him all day, and after this, I’m not sure I can wait a minute longer.”

He lifted Lucas from his lap, and stood, grabbing Lucas’ hand.

Lucas seemed somewhat hazy, but luckily he managed to get with the program fast enough to nod and mumble a slightly breathless _Good night_ to the others, to which Idriss replied with a loud _Not as good as you’re gonna have though_!

Eliott almost dragged Lucas to their room, and locked the door behind them.

He only thought about pressing Lucas against it and continuing where they’d left off, but before he could act on that, Lucas had retreated to the other side of the bed, his arms around himself.

“I’m so sorry!”, he rushed out.

“I almost fucked everything up, I’m so sorry, I don’t know why I did that, I honestly have no idea what came over me, I’m probably more drunk than I thought, please, don’t be mad!”

Eliott shook his head.

“Lucas, calm down. It’s no big deal.”

“I shouldn’t have done that! I’m so sorry you were forced to – to – you know, kiss me…”

His voice faltered.

“Lucas, you didn’t think it was a punishment for me, did you?”, Eliott replied incredulously. “Nothing could be further from the truth, Lucas. That may have been the best kiss of my life.”

Lucas didn’t react.

“Lucas? I’m not angry. We knew when we came out here we might need to kiss at some point. It’s not a big deal, honestly.”

Lucas gave a small nod.

“Not a big deal, okay. Okay.”

Eliott really wanted to say he thought they should do it again, see if it would be just as mind-blowing the second time around, but Lucas seemed upset, closed off. He didn’t know how to make things better. They stood in silence for a while. Eliott tried not to stare at Lucas’ swollen lips. 

“Is it okay if I shower first again?”, Lucas asked finally.

“Oh, yes, sure!”, Eliott replied eagerly, thinking they’d get to bed, and they’d talk like last night, and he’d get to watch Lucas fall asleep again, all peaceful and beautiful. That would be the perfect way to get their footing back, and maybe he could suggest cuddling up as they talked. And if that lead to some more explorations of each other, he was not going to complain.

But when he came out of the bathroom after his own shower – not too cold this time –, the room was dark except for a small night light on Eliott’s side of the bed, and Lucas was tucked in, with closed eyes and his back to Eliott, all the way on the very edge. His breathing was slow, but for some reason, Eliott got the impression he wasn’t really asleep.

He hoped against hope Lucas would turn around as he settled between the blankets, but nothing happened.

“Lucas?”, he whispered. “Are you okay?”

The other boy didn’t give any sign of hearing Eliott.

Eliott sighed.

Did he go too far? Had he crossed Lucas’ boundaries with that kiss? He should have kept it clean, easy, a short but simple kiss, enough to convince Lucille. But as soon as his lips had tasted Lucas, his desire had blown all reasonable thought out of the water, and his mind had been overpowered by something uniquely Lucas.

Maybe Lucas regretted it.

Maybe Lucas hadn’t wanted to be kissed.

Maybe Eliott had been mistaken about that first move by Lucas, maybe Lucas had just wanted to say something to him, maybe Lucas had indeed been tipsier than he’d thought.

Either way, it was too late. It was up to Eliott to make amends. Lucas was not at fault here.

“Lucas? I know you’re not asleep. Can we please just talk about it? Or about something else, if you want to forget about it. Please?”

He thought Lucas was going to ignore his plea, but after a long minute, Lucas turned around, facing Eliott.

“Can we forget about it? We were just acting anyway, right?”

 _Oh, Lucas_ , Eliott thought, _that was_ _definitely not what I was doing_.

But it seemed Lucas was not interested in doing it again.

“Yeah, just acting,” Eliott replied, trying his utmost to keep his voice level and even.

Lucas closed his eyes.

“Let’s just go to sleep, okay?”

Eliott switched off his night light.

“Okay. Want me to talk to you until you fall asleep?”

Lucas nodded. He didn’t open his eyes, but a smile appeared on his face.

Eliott considered it a victory, as he started talking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please feel free to point out any errors, as always.
> 
> And as always, if you were to leave me a comment, I'd feel so blessed.
> 
> <3


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is, as promised, the longest chapter of the story!
> 
> In return though, you will have to give me until Friday for the next one. I am swamped with work tomorrow so I won't be home until late, and on Thursday I have the whole day blocked to study for some exams I have coming up. But it will be another longer one, and it was the one I struggled most with while writing - some of you might know what that means! 👀👀👀
> 
> All that said, read on for a realisation and a revelation!
> 
> <3

Easter breakfast was a quiet affair. They all got up late, tired, a bit grumpy, with various degrees of headaches. After some food for some, and some strong coffee for all, they gathered in the living room.

Lucas was exhausted. He hadn’t slept at all. Yesterday evening had played in an endless loop in his mind, fast-forwarding some parts, but going agonisingly slow over that kiss.

God, that kiss.

For a moment, it had felt like it meant something for Eliott too. But then they’d gotten to their room, and the reality had come crashing back in. Lucas had struggled not to cry, because suddenly it all had seemed so unjust. They had kissed, and Lucas’ world would never be the same again. But it was all a sham, and for Eliott, it was just another kiss. He didn’t even know if it had been a good kiss – oh, sure, Eliott had said it was, but Eliott would say that anyway, he’d never hurt Lucas’ feelings like that. And the worst part of it was that he had only himself to blame. If he hadn’t tried to give Eliott a peck… If he hadn’t blushed like the silly stupid inexperienced gay boy he was…

But then he would have missed out on that kiss. He was incredibly glad he hadn’t missed out on that kiss.

And it hadn’t been a big deal for Eliott, and maybe now Lucille would stop prying.

So maybe all the self-consciousness and the sleepless night had been a small price to pay for that stunning kiss.

He had to distract himself, stop focusing on it, before he started blushing again. He pinched himself between his thumb and his index, trying to snap out of it.

Outside, it was windy, and grey, with low, threatening grey clouds, so their plans for a hike were quickly put aside. Small mercies, Lucas thought.

It seemed like the weather had influenced them all, made them a bit listless. 

Lucas could blame his own lethargy on his sleepless night, but he didn’t think all the others had the same excuse. They hung out in the living room, spread out over the various couches and the floor, not really doing anything. Elise leafed through a magazine without reading anything. Sofiane had the tv remote in his hand and flicked through the channels, sound off, trying to find something worth watching, maybe. Lucas sat on the floor, his back against Eliott’s legs, mindlessly scrolling through his Instagram feed. Nobody said much.

He felt Lucille’s eyes on him, but he didn’t look up. 

The morning just seemed to drag on. It had started to rain.

Suddenly, Lucille shot up.

“Hey! Idriss! Didn’t you say Lucas could play the piano?”

Idriss looked like he was nursing the world’s biggest hangover after yesterday’s shenanigans.

“What? When did I say that?”

“At my party. You said Eliott was raving about Lucas playing for him.”

Idriss’ eyes remained empty.

“I don’t remember that. Fuck, Lucille, right now I don’t even remember how I got to bed yesterday, are you really asking me about something I may have said two weeks ago?”

“Not important, dear Idriss, not important. I just thought Lucas could play something for us.”

Lucas had seen the piano tucked in the corner of the room on their first evening here, but he had forgotten that Idriss had brought up Lucas’ musical skills at the party. He wondered how Idriss knew. Maybe he’d seen something on Instagram from a couple of months ago, when Yann and he had played some music with Alexia. Maybe Imane had mentioned it. Either way, it didn’t matter. He’d said it, and naturally, Lucille had remembered.

He shrugged.

“I’m not all that good.”

“Oh, don’t be shy, Lucas. Eliott couldn’t shut up about it to Idriss! It must at least be better than listening to the rain, right?”

“Fine,” Lucas conceded.

He went to the piano and rifled through the few sheets of music scattered on top. Nothing he was familiar with. He’d have to play something from memory.

He sat down, let his fingers glide over the black and white keys, trying to decide what to do.

One song came to mind. He’d been rehearsing it a lot in the past few months. 

He pressed a key a bit hesitantly, then another, searching, letting his muscle memory take over. A third note.

Lucille laughed.

“Did _that_ impress you, Eliott? You must have wanted to get into his pants really bad, huh?”

Lucas didn’t look up, pressed another key, then repeated the same notes, then again, speeding up. After a few more repetitions, he added his left hand, and the melody slowly built up, swelling into a wave of music. Lucas lost himself in it, letting the music take over.

At a slow point in the song, he turned his head and found Eliott’s eyes on him as he sat on the couch, leaning forward. When their eyes met, Eliott smiled at him, an open smile, with bright eyes. Lucas shot him a small smile back, then turned back, and kept playing, his strong fingers dancing nimbly over the keys. At the end of the song, he slowed down, pressing the final keys unhurriedly, letting the music fade into nothingness.

The room was silent as he turned around.

Even Lucille seemed impressed, but Lucas didn’t dwell on her too long, instead searching Eliott’s eyes. Eliott watched him in awe.

“Lucas, that was… amazing…” He seemed taken aback, but quickly added, to the others, “Even better than the first time. Now you see why I couldn’t stop talking about it.”

He stood up and crossed the room to where Lucas still sat on the piano bench, crouching down in front of him, his hands resting on Lucas’ knees.

“That was so fucking beautiful, insane, Lucas!”

Lucas smiled.

Marie piped up from where she laid flat on the floor.

“It was inspiring, Lucas. What’s the song called?”

Ah.

Fuck.

Well, at least it’d fit in with this whole fake romance scenario, right?

“It’s by this French composer called RIOPY. The song is called I love you.”

He looked down at Eliott’s hands on his knees as he spoke.

Vincent chuckled.

“You played a literal love song for Eliott? Way to get some, Lucas!”

Lucas didn’t answer, and everybody was silent for a moment.

Then, he felt Eliott move, and he looked up. 

Eliott’s hands left his knees, and he rested them on his cheeks, pulling him closer, pressing his lips on Lucas’. 

This time, he was better prepared for it, and he brought his hands to Eliott’s hair. It felt soft under his fingers, smooth, luscious.

Eliott’s kiss lingered, and Lucas involuntarily sighed into it. Immediately, Eliott licked into Lucas’ mouth, his tongue darting over Lucas’ lips, his teeth, tasting, probing. Lucas reacted in kind, and the kiss turned deep. Lucas couldn’t keep in a moan, but Eliott swallowed it, putting one arm around Lucas’ waist, his hand stroking over the small of Lucas’ back, finding the hem of his shirt and slipping under it. At the contact of Eliott’s hand to his bare skin, Lucas almost startled, but the hypnotizing rhythm of Eliott’s tongue against his demanded most of his attention.

The need for air finally forced them apart. Lucas gasped, and Eliott hid his face in his neck, pressing kisses on Lucas’ collarbone. Lucas breathed heavily.

Then Sofiane decided to intervene.

“Maybe keep that for the bedroom, guys?”

Eliott laughed, merrily.

“Sorry. I got carried away. I’m sure nobody can blame me for that, considering I have the most beautiful boyfriend in the world.” 

He didn’t sound sorry at all. Then he stood, pulled Lucas off the piano bench, and went to sit on the couch, Lucas leaning against him.

“You’re astonishing, baby. And I love you too.”

He pressed a kiss on the top of Lucas’ head.

Lucas almost choked. He covered it up with a cough, and he felt his cheeks go scarlet.

I love you. I love you too.

It hit him like a freight train at full speed.

Eliott’s laugh, like a million wind chimes. Eliott’s eyes, stormy and yet safe. Eliott’s messy hair. Eliott’s voice late at night, raspy with sleep, telling Lucas about his day until Lucas’s eyes fell close. Eliott’s drawings. Eliott’s enthusiasm, his tenderness, his softness. Eliott’s playfulness. Their teasing, their banter, but also their vulnerability, telling each other things not many people knew about them.

Eliott’s kisses.

Everything that encompassed Eliott.

Fuck. 

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

He had no idea how it was even possible, after two weeks’ worth of video calls.

But here it was anyway.

Lucas had a crush. A big, fat crush. On his fake boyfriend.

***

After lunch, the rain had subsided, and Vincent had wanted to go outside for a bit. Sofiane had volunteered to keep him company. At the last minute, Idriss had tagged along. Eliott and Lucas had already declined, and Eliott had pointedly asked Idriss if it was a good idea to go exercise, but Idriss had not understood the message, claiming fresh air did wonders for hangovers, and had disappeared. Eliott had been a bit dubious about staying behind with just the girls, without a shield to deflect Lucille’s attention from Lucas and him, but so far everything had gone well. Elise had retreated to her bedroom for a nap, and Lucille had decided to start on some project she needed to finish soon for school. Lucas had sat down at the kitchen bar, reading a comic book he had found in one of the cabin’s cupboards. Eliott had felt restless, jittery, and he’d been talking to Marie for a while, but he needed to do something, so he excused himself to get a drink in the kitchen.

He filled a glass at the tap and drank it hastily, in one gulp, looking at Lucas, engrossed in his book.

He didn’t hear Lucille get up and coming into the kitchen. 

“Oh, hi there, Eliott. Careful, you’ll choke if you drink that all in one go! Is everything okay? You seem a bit at edge. Not what I’d expect from somebody who’s all loved up.” She laughed. “Or wait…” She lowered her voice conspiratorially, but it was still loud enough to carry in the quiet kitchen. “Are you slipping into an episode? You are taking your meds, right?”

Fuck.

She had timed this perfectly. Idriss and Sofiane were still out. Nobody around to save Eliott.

In a rush, he thought back to when Lucas told him about his mother, and how he had almost told him. Why hadn’t he? It’s not like he was asking Lucas to deal with his fucked-up brain forever, after this weekend they would end their fake relationship anyway.

Lucas sat quietly at the counter, his hands still. He didn’t look up, but Eliott could tell by his hunched shoulders that he didn’t know what to do or say.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

“Yeah,” he grunted, shortly, angrily, “I’m taking them, Lucille. You can stop checking up on me.”

“Oh, that’s great!”, she tittered, completely ignoring the second part of Eliott’s sentence. “It’s not easy, to have to worry about your partner all the time. Right, Lucas?”

“Uh…”

Lucas looked up, his eyes big, trying to communicate with Eliott. Eliott subtly shook his head, wishing Lucas to just go along with Lucille and get this over with, but the confusion in Lucas’ eyes did not diminish.

“Uh, I don’t really – I mean, I – uh.”

Lucille’s eyes went round. For some reason, it gave her a comical look, like some silly cartoon figure.

“Oh, no, Eliott! You didn’t tell him?”

Lucas turned his head, a silent _Sorry_ on his lips, but he was not the one to blame here. Eliott should have told him. They only reason why he hadn’t done it was that he didn’t want Lucas to look at him differently, with pity in his eyes. And now Lucille was going to spill it all anyway, and Lucas would get that look in his beautiful eyes anyway, and Lucille would only tell the ugliest parts of it, and worse than pity, Lucas’ eyes would fill with fear, fear for Eliott, fear _of_ Eliott. And Lucille would use this to spin a story about how she was the only one who could handle it, and Lucas would never trust Eliott ever again.

God.

He fucked up. Again. He took everything that was remotely good in his life, and he fucked it up.

He really was worthless. Worse than worthless.

Lucille broke into his train of thoughts.

“Eliott, I am so sorry, but Lucas deserves to know! He needs to be able to check up on you, needs to know what will happen…”

“I’ll tell him. In private. Come on, Lucas, let’s go.”

Lucille stopped him.

“I think maybe it’s best if I do, Eliott. I know how things get with you, I’ve dealt with you for years. I can tell him what to look out for, what to do…”

Lucas stood, calmly but purposefully.

“I think Eliott can speak for himself. And he shouldn’t be forced to tell me anything he doesn’t want to, either.”

Lucille whipped her head around.

“You don’t know what you are talking about, Lucas! You’re still a child! You cannot handle a mentally ill person by yourself. Hell, he might be getting manic as we speak. You think you can help him when he breaks into an art supply store in the middle of the night? When he stays up for 72 hours, drinking nothing but coffee, blasting dubstep at full volume, splashing paint all over the walls, the furniture? When he runs around the streets naked?”

“That was one time, Lucille!”, Eliott shouted, but she ignored him. 

“Or when he gets depressed, and sleeps for a week straight, not eating, not showering, yelling at you to leave him alone, to fuck off?”

Eliott felt the tears welling up in his eyes. He should have told Lucas when he had a chance, told him that it would get bad, but that it was his brain forcing him to do these things, not – this, Lucille making it sound like he acted out on purpose, voluntarily. He should have known she’d twist everything into the ugliest possible version of the truth she could get away with.

He bowed his head, wanting to avoid the fear and disgust in Lucas’ eyes.

But then he felt two hands around his waist.

He looked up in surprise, and saw Lucas standing in front of him. He stood on his tip-toes and pressed a quick kiss on Eliott’s mouth, and then he turned around and faced Lucille.

“Do you want to know a funny story? When I came out to my friends and family, I wasn’t ashamed of who I was. I was just Lucas and I happened to like boys. But I still wanted to tell people myself, you know, at my own pace, with my own words. But somebody overheard me telling a friend, and they decided it would be fun to spread the word. So my friends started talking about gay people they knew and about pride month and all that stuff to get a reaction out of me, and some other people just came up and asked me out of the blue if it was true that I was gay. And it didn’t bother me, you know, that they knew, and they meant well, but my chance to come out the way I wanted was taken away from me. So I don’t particularly appreciate you snitching on Eliott like that. It’s his life, and he had a right to tell me if and when he wanted me to know. Just because we’re dating doesn’t give me the right to expect him to let me in on every detail about him. And you definitely don’t have the right to decide for him what to tell me and when.”

Eliott felt a surge of pride. _This boy_ , god, how he wished Lucas could be _his boy_ for real and for eternity. Lucas grabbed Eliott’s hand, and pulled him along, walking away from the kitchen. Then he stopped, and turned back to Lucille.

“I am going to talk to my boyfriend in private, like he wanted. I’d appreciate it if you left us in peace.”

And he stomped off, clearly irritated, tugging Eliott by his hand. He only let go after he’d closed their bedroom door behind them.

Lucas went to sit on the edge of the bed, looking down.

Eliott’s heart shattered at the sight of the small, sad figure. Shame washed over him. Once again, his selfishness had led to Lucas being in the crosshairs. When would he stop hurting this beautiful, innocent boy, whose only crime was that he had wanted to help Eliott?

He heard Lucas take a breath, and he rushed over. He knelt in front of him, grabbed his hands, willing him to forgive Eliott, give Eliott a second chance. He’d beg, if necessary.

Then Lucas spoke.

“I’m so sorry, Eliott.”

What? He’d expected Lucas to be angry, to be upset about being put on the spot, about Eliott keeping such important information from him. He’d expected Lucas to be hurt about being called a child by Lucille. He’d expected Lucas to be afraid of Eliott, afraid that he might explode at any time and start acting strange and random, as Lucille had so pointedly described. He’d expected Lucas to say he wanted out, that he didn’t want to stay any longer in a room with Eliott. He’d expected Lucas to feel disappointed that Eliott had not trusted him enough to tell him all his secrets.

He’d expected many things, but an apology had not been on the list.

He would have been less surprised if Lucas had slapped him.

“What? No, Lucas, you have nothing to apologize for!”

Lucas sighed.

“If I hadn’t acted so confused, she wouldn’t have guessed I didn’t know what she was talking about, and she wouldn’t have ratted you out like that. I mean, she already did enough when she talked about medications, but it wouldn’t have been as bad. She probably assumed I knew about it. We don’t have to talk about it, though. You don’t have to tell me anything.”

Angel. There was no other word for him.

“Lucas… I want – I want to tell you. I should have told you before. I… I am bipolar.”

Lucas nodded gravely.

“I figured that out, from what she said. Thanks for telling me.”

He didn’t move from his position on the edge of the bed, just shrugged as Eliott stared at him, speechless.

“What? You have a mental illness. It’s not the end of the world.”

“It feels like it, sometimes. Lucille is right about some of it, Lucas. It is not easy. When I am manic, I feel invincible, as if nothing can hurt me. All these things she talked about? I did them all, Lucas. And worse things, too. Once I stood on the roof of an office building and I thought I could fly. I almost jumped, Lucas. My friends, my family, my… my partner, they constantly have to worry about stuff like that. It might happen again, at any time. And – and when I get low, I don’t just get low. I get so fucking far down I don’t remember there even exists an up any longer. Sometimes it lasts for days. And I lash out at people, people who just want to help me. And then when they leave me because I screamed at them to go away, I feel even worse. I – I…”

He broke off, ashamed, as the tears that had threatened to spill suddenly broke through and rolled over his cheeks.

“Hey. You don’t have to talk about it right now, or ever, if you don’t want to.” 

Lucas’ voice was so soft, so gentle. His thumbs came up to his face, cradling it, wiping away the tears.

“It’s part of why it is so hard for me to get away from Lucille, I guess. Every time I broke up with her, she said it was because I was having an episode, that I wasn’t thinking clearly. She kept saying I couldn’t expect anybody to be okay with me being like that. She said nobody would love me. She said – she said nobody could ever love me, that – that she was the only one who’d ever put up with me…”

Lucas kept still, the only movement his thumbs on Eliott’s jaw, and he let Eliott cry until his tears dried up and he was just sobbing silently. Only then did Lucas lift his face and looked straight at him.

“Listen. Listen to me, Eliott. She is wrong. She is wrong, Eliott, believe me. It isn’t harder or easier to love somebody with a mental illness than anybody else. If she doesn’t love you with your disorder, she wouldn’t love you without it, either. It is part of who you are, Eliott. When my mom was admitted to the hospital, it was… It was hard. And for a while, I was angry with her. For not being better. For chasing away my dad. For leaving me to figure it all out by myself. But I was being unfair towards her, Eliott. If somebody has cancer, we don’t blame them for not trying harder, or for needing medication, or for not being able to go to work, or whatever. We don’t leave them because they get chemo and lose their hair. It is no different for mental diseases. My mom is still kind and patient and creative and she still loves me more than anything in this world. It’s just that on some days she forgets about all that. That doesn’t mean it’s no longer there, you know. So I just try to be there for her. On the bad days, it can be painful, I won’t lie. But on the good days, it’s wonderful. I’m going to assume it is the same for your parents, your friends. They suffer when you are struggling. Not because of anything you do or don’t do, but because they love you and they hate to see you in pain. But they stick around anyway, because the good days are worth it, and more than make up for those few bad days, I guess.”

Eliott’s sobs subsided a bit, and he nodded.

“I guess. I have my meds, you know. They are supposed to balance things out. It sucks, and I hate that I have to take them, they do all kinds of weird shit to me, I have to have my blood tested all the time, and sometimes I don’t take them. In any case, even if I do, sometimes an episode will still hit. There’s other stuff, too, like you are supposed to get better at recognizing the signals, and I have to talk to a therapist every couple of weeks. It is better now, though. Since I was diagnosed, since I have the treatment. But it’ll never completely be gone.”

“I’m sorry. It sucks. I wish I could make it go away, but I can’t. But if you ever want to talk about it, I can listen. And if you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine too.”

Eliott leaned forward, resting his head on Lucas’ knees. He felt Lucas’ hand in his hair, caressing in slow, soft strokes.

He felt the stress drain from him with every move of Lucas’ hand.

Once again, everything could have been ruined, and yet here he was, being comforted by this boy who didn’t owe him anything.

He lifted his head, and carefully took Lucas’ face in his hands. 

He sat up and leaned in, centimeter by painstaking centimeter, giving Lucas every chance to pull away. Lucas didn’t move, just gazed at Eliott, with those blue eyes, an ocean in which Eliott wanted to drown.

Then their lips found each other, and Eliott came home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please feel free to point out any errors.
> 
> Also, if you'd like, please leave me a comment. They really brighten even the most arduous work or study day. 😉
> 
> <3


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of previous chapter: Elu are alone, without the need for pretence, and kissing. What more can we want?
> 
> <3
> 
> PS Next chapter somewhere this weekend!

Lucas fell into Eliott’s kiss as if they’d done this a thousand times before, instead of twice.

Their lips slotted together as if they were made for this, and their tongues found a heady rhythm, turning Lucas on almost immediately.

His hands came up to rest on Eliott’s neck, holding him close. Eliott’s hair fell over them, tickling, and he giggled into Eliott’s mouth.

Eliott suddenly rose from his kneeling position, and without breaking the kiss, pushed Lucas backwards until he was half lying on the bed, Eliott on top of him.

Lucas savoured the weight on his chest. It felt intoxicating, to be so close, so connected. Eliott’s hands had left his face and roamed over his shoulders, his sides, fiddling with his shirt. Lucas mimicked his movements, his fingers stroking down over Eliott’s back, reaching the hem of his shirt, where a sliver of skin was exposed. Lucas gingerly touched it, almost burning when he made contact with Eliott’s smooth skin. He let his hands rest there, too overwhelmed to move, moaning when Eliott’s lips let go of his and he started pressing open-mouthed kisses on his jaw, his throat, his neck, latching onto the soft skin under his ear.

Lucas lost himself in the sensations, his brain foggy with excitement, with anticipation.

Suddenly he realised they were alone. 

Why was Eliott kissing him in private? 

They needed to stop this, before the lines became too blurry. They were dating outside of this room, but in here, they were just… acquaintances. Friends, at best.

Friends didn’t kiss like this.

He tried to speak.

“Eliott – fuck – Eliott, wait – we need to – we have to stop – fuck –”

Eliott ceased his kissing, and looked up at Lucas.

“Lucas? Do you want to stop?”

His eyes were dark and cloudy, and his voice was deep, gravelly. It swept over Lucas like honeyed wine.

“We are alone… We don’t need to –”

“But I want to.”

Eliott pushed up on his arms, breaking the intimate contact, still staring into Lucas’ eyes. He chuckled slightly.

“In fact, I think I _do_ need to…”

Lucas breathed heavily.

“What? I don’t understand – nobody’s here, we don’t need to pretend –”

“Lucas. I am not pretending right now. When I said yesterday I’d been wanting you all day… I – I wasn’t exactly pretending either, you know.”

“You weren’t? You – you want me? For real?”

Eliott’s eyes roamed over Lucas’s face, his body.

“Lucas. You are fucking beautiful. When you laugh, it does things to me I’ve never felt before. I think you may be the most intriguing and beguiling boy I’ve ever seen. And when we kiss, it is… magical. Why on earth wouldn’t I want you?”

Lucas said nothing. Eliott wanted him? Him, Lucas? Eliott thought he was beautiful?

“Lucas? Is everything okay?”

Lucas nodded, a bit dazed by Eliott’s revelation.

“Can I – would it be okay if I kissed you again?”

Lucas nodded again, slowly, a bit shy. He lowered his eyes.

Eliott put his index finger on Lucas’ lips, tracing the outline of them, slowly, softly, almost reverently.

“Not for anybody else’s sake, Lucas. Not to deceive my ex or anybody else. This is just for us. You and I. Nobody else. Okay?”

Lucas nodded a third time, and Eliott lifted his fingers, only to replace them with his mouth, feather-light.

“Just you and I,” he repeated, and then he deepened the kiss.

It became heated again within seconds, and Lucas drank it all in, Eliott’s taste, Eliott’s smell, the sounds Eliott made.

Before long, Eliott let go of his lips and started roaming his mouth over Lucas’ face again, kissing down to the neckline of his shirt, nuzzling at his collarbone, muttering Lucas’ name softly.

Lucas didn’t know where to put his hands, and they flitted about Eliott’s torso, touching his shoulders, his back, his hips. He knew he was making noises, high-pitched murmurs, pleas almost, but he found he didn’t care, distracted as he was by Eliott’s lips on his skin.

He wanted to be kissed again, so he put his hands in Eliott’s hair, and pulled slightly. Eliott complied, pressing his mouth to Lucas’ again, his tongue not wasting any time in finding Lucas’ and sliding against it delicately, deliciously.

All too soon, however, Eliott broke off the kiss, panting. He stared at Lucas, his hands on Lucas’ shirt, tugging.

“Lucas – can I – I want to touch your skin.”

Lucas closed his eyes, trying to regain some balance, fighting to remain in control.

He wanted to give in so badly, let Eliott take everything he wanted from him.

But the ferocity of his wanting scared him. All it had taken was a couple of kisses, and Lucas was ready to throw all caution to the wayside, and give in to it completely.

There would be no going back from this.

“Lucas?”

Eliott didn’t sound impatient, just endlessly caring, trying to make sure Lucas was with him every step of the way.

Lucas bit his lip, and Eliott gently, tenderly swiped at it, soothing the slight ache with his finger.

“I… I have never…”

God. The mortification.

But Eliott knew how to soothe that, too.

“Nothing has to happen. We can stop right now. We can keep doing what we’re doing. Or we can go a bit further. But if we take another step, we do it because we both want it. And we can stop at any point, or go back a bit. You decide what feels good.”

Lucas whimpered.

“What – what do you want?”

“I already said I wanted you, Lucas. But it doesn’t need to happen today. Or at all. I want anything you’re willing to give. I want to give you everything you’re willing to take.”

Lucas tried to think about it rationally. It was probably a horrible idea. He already had the biggest crush on Eliott. Tomorrow they were going to leave here, and soon they were going to break up. They might remain some sort of friends after that, but they didn’t really have a lot in common. They might run into each other at Imane’s occasionally, maybe text every once in a while, meet each other at a party here and there. Lucas assumed he’d eventually get over his crush – although he strongly suspected it was way more than just infatuation. It felt a lot bigger, a lot stronger than his old crush on Yann. 

But if they went any further than this… 

Their kisses already were such an impossibly big thing in Lucas’ head, Lucas’ heart. He knew it was going to take a while to forget about them. He had a feeling every other guy he might kiss in the future was going to be measured against Eliott. To go on with this would just mean even more memories he would eventually need to erase.

He should draw the line here. Maybe they could kiss some more, keep it as easy as possible, light.

He looked at Eliott.

Eliott was just watching him, patiently. He didn’t pressure Lucas in any way, not with words, not with his body. He was still half laying on top of Lucas, his hands on Lucas’ shoulders, but he held very still, not attempting to sway Lucas. It felt heady somehow, to be so respected.

And all of a sudden, he thought, _fuck it_. He had one shot at this. Eliott had said it didn’t need to happen today, but maybe it did. Tomorrow they’d leave. Tomorrow all of this would be over. There would not be any more occasions where they’d need to be fake boyfriends. So what if they weren’t crazy in love with one another? Lucas was halfway there, anyway, and Eliott was into him. Eliott would respect his wishes. He’d make sure Lucas was okay. He’d take care of Lucas. He’d make Lucas feel good.

He ignored that very small voice of warning in the back of his head. He wanted this. One night. One night, in a fairy-tale pretend world. And then he’d go back to his normal life.

He took a breath.

He looked up at Eliott, who was still gazing at him. He smiled up into his grey eyes. Eliott smiled back, widely.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Lucas said, confidently.

Eliott bent his head, pressed a bunch of kisses on Lucas’ lips.

“Let’s move this a bit. Scoot over.”

He motioned for Lucas to shift over to the head of the bed, lying fully on top of the blankets. He crawled over Lucas, his long legs on either side of Lucas, propping himself up on his arms, and kissing Lucas again, hard. He let go and sat on his knees.

“Sit up for a minute, Lucas.”

Lucas did, and Eliott took off his shirt, one arm looped around Lucas' waist, holding him up, the other hand touching him – his shoulders, his chest, his abs.

“Can you lie down again for me?”

Eliott pushed lightly against his chest with his hand, and Lucas went willingly.

Eliott kissed him again, almost chastely after all their hungry kisses from earlier, and then started finding a path over Lucas’ chest with his lips, short, closed-mouthed pecks, occasionally darting out his tongue.

Lucas knew he was blushing all over, but he didn’t care. He was focused on wherever Eliott’s lips were, a bundle of nerve ends concentrated in a centimeter of his skin.

“Is this still okay, Lucas? We can stop whenever you want, yeah?”

Stop?

Lucas almost laughed out loud.

He had no idea what the word _stop_ meant at this point. 

***

Eliott’s lips, his tongue, his fingers roamed over the endless expanse of Lucas’ golden skin that was suddenly, _finally_ , _mercifully_ , available to him. He didn’t know where to kiss first, until his eyes fell on Lucas’ collarbone, the mole he’d been eyeing during that video call. He pressed his mouth unto it, sucking lightly, light-headed from the scent of Lucas’ skin.

Lucas whimpered in response, and the sound seemed to shoot through Eliott’s veins, sizzling throughout his body, humming inside him.

Lucas tasted better than he’d conjured up in his fantasies, and he smelled like dew and freshly baked cookies. It was intoxicating to be discovering all his sensitive spots, kissing them, nipping them, soothing them with a flat swipe of his tongue. It was even more exhilarating to know nobody had ever seen Lucas like this, with his eyes closed and his mouth open, murmuring softly, blushing all over, a soft sheen of sweat on his skin.

The rousing sensation of it all went straight to Eliott’s dick.

He’d told Lucas nothing needed to happen, but god, no fucking ice shower in the world was going to be enough to cool him down if they ended things now.

Lucas’s fingers trailed over the fabric of his shirt. They scaled his spine deftly, and Eliott was reminded of how they’d danced dexterously over the piano keys earlier. It had mesmerized him, as if some invisible cord had pulled him towards Lucas as he played. Now he realised why. His body was meant to be Lucas’ keyboard, Lucas’ fingers were meant to play Eliott’s skin. His shirt needed to go.

“Lucas? Do you want to take off my shirt?”

Lucas didn’t reply, but tugged at the hem. Eliott silently shot a small prayer of thanks out to the universe and almost ripped the offending piece of cloth off.

Immediately, he went back to kissing Lucas’ sternum, tracing a path to his abs.

Lucas’ hands roved over Eliott’s back, leaving burnt skin in their wake. They reached the waistband of his jeans and rested there. Or better, they didn’t rest, instead, they fretted at the edge, following it to his hipbones and back again.

God.

Eliott sucked lightly at Lucas’ abs, then he licked straight down, until his tongue mimicked Lucas’s fingers, flitting right at the edge of his pants, before dipping under it.

Lucas’ back arched of the bed, and his murmurs changed to swearing. All Eliott could make out was a constant repetition of _fuck, Eliott, god_ , and it was driving him insane.

He wanted more. He knew he shouldn’t overwhelm Lucas, knew he should take things slow, check in with Lucas, let Lucas set the pace, but every nerve inside him was coiled, everything inside him screamed _desire_ and _Lucas, Lucas, Lucas_.

“Lucas – can I – please, fuck, can I – Lucas. Lucas, can I take off your pants – fuck –”

He thought he felt Lucas nod, but he needed to be sure. The last thing he wanted was to cross Lucas’ boundaries, even though it would kill him to stop.

“I need to hear you say it, Lucas – fuck, so fucking hot.”

Lucas stammered something, but Eliott couldn’t make out a word. He frantically willed himself to calm down enough to wait for Lucas’ answer, when suddenly he felt Lucas’ hands slide from Eliott’s back over his waist to his stomach, and then in between them, wrestling to get down to the button of his own jeans.

Fuck.

Eliott supposed this would do, and he lifted himself slightly to give Lucas better access. Then, impatiently, he pushed Lucas’ hands away and tugged at his zipper with one hand, pushing the other one under Lucas’ body to lift him up, just enough to pull down his pants in one rough yank. A small whine escaped Lucas.

“Fuck, sorry…”

Lucas breathed heavily, but managed to shake his head.

“It’s fine – fuck. Eliott. Eliott. Fuck.”

He sounded almost overwhelmed. Eliott chuckled softly.

“I know. I know, Lucas. Fuck.”

It seemed to break the heavy tension a bit, as they both started laughing. Eliott decided he needed to cool down a bit before losing it completely. He lowered himself on Lucas’ body cautiously, nipping at his throat, before pressing their lips together in an unhurried, languid kiss.

It didn’t last long however before their kiss turned dirty once again, and Eliott remembered he’d been busy undressing Lucas. Instantaneously he became painfully aware of his swelling dick. 

He tried to keep up their kissing while moving his hand in between them, but as soon as he found Lucas’ rock-hard dick, only covered by the thin fabric of his black boxers, he gasped, and all plans of leisurely lovemaking were out of the window.

As his fingers slid over Lucas’ erection, Lucas started keening, and fuck, Eliott had been turned on before, but the sounds coming out of Lucas’ mouth just shot straight to his dick.

He fought to hold on to some self-control, telling himself to make sure Lucas was okay. Lucas, captivating, alluring, innocent Lucas, with his velvety kiss-blown lips and his eyes like bottomless pools which bewitched Eliott utterly. 

He forced his fingers to go slow as he pushed them inside the waistband of Lucas’ boxers, keeping his eyes glued on Lucas’s face, ready to stop at the first sign of discomfort by Lucas, even if it’d kill him.

But Lucas kept up his lustful moans, interspersed with entreaties for Eliott to go on. Every time he heard Lucas force out a _please, Eliott, please_ his dick twitched and his blood boiled.

Gone were his plans of taking this slow, and he licked a path down, suckling on one of Lucas’ nipples on the way, which made Lucas swear loudly.

As he reached Lucas’ boxers, he hardly remembered to stop and ask for consent, gritting out a short _Lucas – yeah?_ Lucas whimpered a barely audible _yeah_ in reply, and Eliott hesitated for a bit, stuck between his own devastating desire, Lucas’ obvious lust, and his need to do this right, to make sure Lucas was with him every step of the way.

Lucas moved his hips, and that tipped the scales. 

Eliott moved Lucas’ boxers down, and kissed his hard dick, dripping precum. He lapped at it, lost in his yearning.

“Eliott… Close…”

Eliott heard Lucas as through a thick fog, and he had only one goal.

Without preamble, he took Lucas in his mouth and started sucking.

Lucas’ noises stopped completely, abruptly, but his hips jerked almost as if he had no control over it.

Even so, Eliott needed to make sure Lucas was okay before he continued, slightly worried about the sudden silence after all his delectable sounds earlier.

“Baby? Are you still with me?”

Baby. He froze momentarily. He’d said it before to Lucas, in fact, he’d probably said it more to Lucas than to anybody else, but it had always been when they were with others, acting like boyfriends. This wasn’t fake, though, this wasn’t pretence. This was real. Lucas either didn’t notice or didn’t mind, however, he just whispered a soft _yeah, feels so good_ in response.

“Would it be okay for me to get you off?”

Lucas didn’t react immediately, and Eliott looked up, afraid he’d pushed too far and distressed Lucas. 

The sight that awaited him, however, almost made him come untouched. Lucas’ eyes were wide open, misted over, his tongue darting out between his slightly opened swollen lips, wet and shiny, his pale skin covered with the sheen of sweat, his hair sticking out in all directions as he kept running his hand through it, his other hand balling up the sheets in a death grip.

“God, Lucas, look at you. You are the hottest thing I’ve ever laid eyes on. I’m so fucking turned on, Lucas, I could come just looking at you. Fuck, Lucas, please let me suck you, I swear I’ll make you feel so fucking good, baby…”

Lucas' lips moved, but no sound came out.

“Lucas, I need you to give me a sign, please… Nod if you’re okay for me to continue, Lucas. Can you do that for me?”

Lucas nodded, a minute movement of his head, but at this point, Eliott would take it. 

He carefully wrapped his lips around the head of Lucas’ dick, and covered the rest with his palm, slick with saliva and Lucas’ precum. 

Garbled words came tumbling out of Lucas’ mouth, and Eliott stopped moving for a moment to listen, not taking his mouth of Lucas. He enjoyed the weight of Lucas’ dick on his tongue, licking around it, trying to understand what Lucas was muttering.

“Eliott… Fuck… Gonna come, gonna – Eliott!”

Eliott smiled around Lucas’ swollen flesh and started bobbing his head rhythmically. He put his free hand on Lucas’ hips, relishing the feeling of his abs contracting under Eliott’s fingertips.

True to his word, Lucas came within minutes, the hand that had been on the sheet tangling in Eliott’s hair, keeping him where he was – not that Eliott had any intention of moving.

He kept softly sucking Lucas all through his orgasm. Then he laid down on his side next to him, watching the emotions flitting over his face as he came down from his high. Almost as an afterthought, Eliott’s hand found his own raging erection, jerking off slowly.

Lucas’ eyes seemed to be focusing again, and Eliott smiled at him.

“You okay?”

Lucas hummed.

“You are so beautiful. That was so fucking hot, Lucas. So fucking hot.”

Lucas blushed, but smiled. Once again, Eliott was reminded of an angel.

When Lucas spoke, it was almost bashful.

“What about you?”

His eyes darted down, to where Eliott was gripping his dick.

“I’m fine… just making you feel good, making you come, it was amazing, Lucas.”

A flash of uncertainty passed through Lucas’ expressive eyes.

“You don’t want me to –”

“Hey,” Eliott interrupted. “I told you what I wanted before we got into this. I want to give you everything you’re willing to take, and I want to take everything you’re willing to give. I just meant you don’t have to worry about me. This is all about you.”

“But you’re – you’re hard… Don’t you want to come?”

Lucas’ voice was small, and Eliott used his free arm to pull him closer.

“I do. Lucas, I do, so fucking badly. But I don’t want you to do anything you’re not comfortable with, okay? I can take care of myself, and you can watch, if you’d like. Or you can tell me what you would like to do.”

Lucas wavered for a moment.

“Can I – touch?”, he whispered.

“Yes,” Eliott answered, his voice strained, “if you want to – please.”

He watched raptly as Lucas extended a slightly shaky hand. Eliott removed his hand from his dick, and when Lucas touched it gingerly, he hissed. Lucas pulled back as if burned, but Eliott quickly rectified that by grabbing his hand and pulling it back.

“So good, Lucas, fuck!”

Lucas ran his fingers over Eliott’s length, staring intensely.

“Can you – I mean, could – would you… show me how you like it?”, he asked quietly, and a wave of tenderness for this boy threatened to sweep Eliott away.

Instead, he decided to go for a kiss, while putting his own hand over Lucas’ and jerking himself off with Lucas’ hand.

Lucas whimpered into the kiss, and then broke it off, staring fiercely at Eliott.

“Come on, Eliott, I want it…”

And that did it. Eliott grunted as he climaxed all over their hands. It had been a long time since he came this hard, and he kissed Lucas hard as he came down.

“Wow,” he said, when they finally let go of each other’s lips.

“You are amazing, Lucas.”

Lucas smiled sleepily.

“And you.”

Eliott couldn’t stop the laughter bubbling up.

“I was right…”

Lucas looked at him in confusion.

“I am so fucking _very_ lucky…”

Lucas blushed, and Eliott laughed again, sliding his clean hand through Lucas’ hair. He really wanted to hold Lucas tight, revel in his proximity.

“Can I just hold you for a bit?”

At Lucas’ hum of agreement, he got up.

“Let me just clean up, okay?”, he said.

Lucas mumbled his approval, his eyes falling close.

Eliott went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash up in a hurry, anxious to get back to Lucas. Clad in a clean pair of boxers, he entered the bedroom again with a damp washcloth and a towel and carefully sponged off Lucas, who barely reacted, except for the blissful smile that appeared around his lips.

Eliott lied down next to him, pulling him close.

“Should we get dressed again and go get dinner?”

Lucas murmured _can’t move_.

God, this boy, this actual _angel_. 

“Wanna just go to sleep?”

Lucas hummed approvingly, crawling closer into Eliott’s embrace.

Eliott started tracing shapes on Lucas’ skin with slightly shaky fingers.

“Shall I talk you to sleep?”

Lucas laughed into Eliott’s shoulder.

“You can, but maybe caressing works just as well.”

So Eliott closed his eyes, kissed Lucas on the top of his head, and caressed him until he drifted off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaah. *collective sigh of relief*
> 
> Please feel free to point out any errors.
> 
> And leave me a comment, too, it warms my heart and brings sunshine in my day! :)
> 
> <3


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We need to talk about Lucille.
> 
> IMHO, S3 Lucille is not a bad person. Sure, she made mistakes, and people got hurt in the process, but so did Eliott, and so did Lucas. Life can be messy, and Lucille was caught up in it all. Like, her boyfriend of quite some time breaks up with her for a boy he just met, and then kisses her a few days later at a party like nothing ever happened. Of course she would think Lucas is just some whim for Eliott, especially when he turns out to be in a manic episode later. It also made sense to me that she'd fight for her relationship, because she came across like genuinely caring about Eliott - even if they weren't exactly treating each other the best way. Like I said, life is messy, everybody makes mistakes, especially when you're young. We all have something in our past we are not necessarily proud of, something where an action of ours might have caused pain to somebody else, wittingly or not.
> 
> However! In this AU, Lucille is... mean. Cruel, even. She does have her reasons - she doesn't want Eliott to leave her, even though it is maybe not love she feels for him but rather some sort of martyred pity or whatever; but the way she treats Eliott and by extension Lucas is not okay. Now there is a fine line between fighting dirty for something or someone you want and abuse. I do not think this verse's Lucille is 'abusive' as such, although she is definitely crossing into territories that are not okay: trying to control or manipulate Eliott, pretending to know his thoughts better than him, telling him nobody else would stick with him. This comes very close to what is called gaslighting, and even though every situation is different and sometimes, some of these actions might be acceptable or justified to certain persons, they should not be considered normal behaviour in a relationship of any kind.
> 
> Luckily Eliott realized that too and got out.
> 
> If you needed to hear that it's not okay to be treated like that, consider this your sign. Even if some actions are not intended to be abusive, they can still be so.
> 
> Anyway. *spoiler* I apologize beforehand for Lucille's actions in this chapter. I promise you it's the last we'll hear from her.
> 
>  **[CW/TW]** Also, Lucas panics a bit after what happened in chapter 7. It is not a full panic attack and I don't think it should be triggering, but better safe than sorry, so please be warned.
> 
> Well. I hope I didn't scare you off with all that. It'll all work out in the end, I promise. We have only two more chapters after this.
> 
> Although, if you all would like it, to make up for all my sins, I may have a bit of an idea (and maybe I once again left a tiny [Chekhov's gun](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chekhov%27s_gun)) for a short epilogue. Yay or nay?
> 
> <3

A warm weight enveloped Lucas as he blinked open his eyes. Eliott held him tightly, an arm slung over Lucas’ naked waist, his breath hot against Lucas’ back, their legs entangled.

It felt… safe, somehow. Protected, sheltered. As if nothing could hurt him, almost as if the outside world didn’t really exist, just the two of them in their bubble where nothing could reach them.

He snuggled closer against Eliott’s heat, not wanting to let go of this calmness, this sense of serenity.

Eliott’s skin felt smooth against his back. He could feel the slow rise and fall of Eliott’s chest as he breathed evenly.

For a long, blissful moment he let himself drift back to a peaceful slumber, until he grasped that they both were practically naked.

Why had they gone to sleep like this?

And then he remembered.

Eliott’s hands on his naked skin – Eliott’s mouth on him – Eliott coming into Lucas’ hand – Lucas coming in Eliott’s – god.

They had sex. Fucking great sex – although maybe for Eliott it had not been such a big deal – but for Lucas…

It had been so much more than he’d imagined. The sensations rushing over him. Eliott’s tenderness, his obvious care about making Lucas feel good.

The list of firsts with Eliott kept getting longer, didn’t it? First time getting someone off. First blowjob. First kiss. First time sharing a bed. First boyfriend.

Wait.

Wait, no, that wasn’t right.

Eliott was not his boyfriend.

First _fake_ boyfriend.

Fuck.

Did people usually have sex when they were pretending to date?

Suddenly, Eliott’s embrace didn’t feel secure anymore. Suddenly, it felt confining, like a cage, imprisoning him, pinning him down.

Lucas felt the panic rise.

He needed to get out, get away from Eliott. He needed to breathe.

Fighting to keep his composure for long enough to escape, he managed to wriggle out of Eliott’s arms without waking him up. There was a long moment where he though his heart might stop, when Eliott mumbled his name, but then he shifted slightly and slept on.

Lucas fled to the bathroom, turning on the shower. He stared at his image in the mirror. It seemed like everything about him had changed, like everybody would immediately notice that things had shifted in Lucas’ world. He imagined getting to the breakfast table, and everybody being able to tell what had happened. He could almost hear Lucille’s voice, commenting on how Lucas finally had sex. He tried to reason with himself, saying it was impossible, he still looked the same as yesterday, but then he noticed a small bruise on his collarbone, and he couldn’t hold himself back any longer. Tears started flowing, and he hid in the shower, letting the hot water mingle with the salty drops, letting it rinse away Eliott’s smell lingering on his skin. He couldn’t bring himself to wash up, he just stood there, the powerful jets massaging his shoulders.

So they had sex. Okay. It wasn’t a big deal, was it? Lots of people had sex.

But Eliott and he were not together.

On the other hand, many people who weren’t together still had sex. It was 2020, for fuck’s sake. People didn’t wait to get married to have sex any longer.

Lucas could handle casual sex, right?

He’d just have to act cool about it. Tell Eliott it had been great, but he didn’t expect anything from him.

But what if Eliott wanted to do it again? Some sort of friends with benefits arrangement?

A hysterical laugh almost escaped him, had he not managed to stifle it with his hand just in time.

Friends with benefits, yeah, right. Fake boyfriends with benefits was more like it. There were just too many quagmires to avoid in this whole set up.

He didn’t know what to do.

He didn’t know how to handle having sex with his fake boyfriend. Did they need to talk about it? Or was it just something that happened, to be shrugged away, not enough to warrant deeper discussion? Did Eliott think it came with the job description of boyfriend, even if it was in name only? Had Eliott done it because he thought he owed it to Lucas? Was it a one-time thing, or would Eliott want more? Would he expect more? Did he consider them sex buddies now? Or did he not want to do it again at all? What if it hadn’t even been good for Eliott? What if he had just wanted to fuck Lucas, something like an itch to be scratched, and now that he’d gotten it out of his system, he’d lost all interest in Lucas? What would be worse, if Eliott wanted to keep doing it, or if he didn’t? Did Lucas want to do it again?

He knew the answer to that one.

He did want to do it again – but – he didn’t know if he could take it.

His body screamed for it, for more, for Eliott. For more explosive orgasms with Eliott. For endless nights spent exploring Eliott and being explored by Eliott.

And his heart did too – but it screamed for completely different things. For belonging, for togetherness.

Slowly, his befuddled brain caught up.

He had thought, earlier, that he had a crush.

It seemed it was time to adjust that theory.

He didn’t have a crush.

He was in love.

Fuck, he really had to go there, didn’t he? The first attractive guy who came along and kissed him, and Lucas had to fall in love.

There was no way Eliott felt the same. Sure, he’d been attentive to Lucas’ wants and needs, but he probably was a considerate lover with everyone. He’d just wanted Lucas, it made sense, even, with them being made to kiss a couple of times, and Eliott being single for a while. He’d have needs, and Lucas was there, available and willing.

So fucking willing.

He’d need to act casual about it, put it down to hormones, or maybe just wanting to see what the fuss was about. He couldn’t let Eliott find out about his feelings. Eliott would feel bad, would think he was to blame somehow. Fuck, maybe Eliott would feel so guilty about putting Lucas in this position with his whole fake dating thing, that he’d stick around out of guilt, have sex with Lucas to soothe his conscience. Or maybe he’d pity Lucas, who was stupid enough to fall for a guy who’d never made him any promises. God, he wouldn’t pretend to like Lucas back out of pity, would he?

Lucas felt sick to his stomach.

He fucked everything up.

He was nauseous, dizzy.

He couldn’t face getting back to the bedroom, seeing Eliott, having to act as if yesterday meant nothing, pretending it was all some sort of unexpected improvised part of the act.

At least they were leaving soon. Their whole fake relationship would be over soon. He wouldn’t have to pretend to Lucille to be in love with Eliott while having to pretend to Eliott not to be in love with him for much longer.

Lucas got dressed in silence.

At least karma was on his side when he opened the bathroom door and Eliott was still sleeping soundly.

Lucas crept out of the bedroom.

He wavered for one second before closing the door behind him. This whole weekend, Eliott and him had stuck close to each other. Was it wise to face the others alone? What if they started asking questions he couldn’t answer? What if they assumed the two of them had been fighting?

But his need to get away from Eliott won.

He closed the door behind him and tried to act as normally as he could.

***

Eliott woke up gradually.

He’d slept peacefully, dreaming about Lucas.

Then he remembered yesterday, and how real-life Lucas had been so much better than dream Lucas, and he smiled involuntarily.

He tightened his arms, trying to pull Lucas closer to him, wanting to smell him, kiss him – and found only air.

His gradual waking brusquely disturbed, Eliott opened his eyes as his smile faltered.

Lucas was gone.

But the pillow still smelled like him, the mattress was still warm.

Maybe he’d just gone to the bathroom.

Eliott turned on his back, closing his eyes again.

God, Lucas. How the fuck did he get lucky enough to get with Lucas?

Yesterday had been fucking amazing. Lucas had been so hot, so responsive, so fucking perfect under his fingers, his mouth. He remembered Lucas’ blush, Lucas’ moans, Lucas’ whispered pleas, Lucas’ touches.

His hand trailed down over his chest and his abs, as it had done over Lucas’. He reached down into his boxers, his dick already half hard.

He wanted Lucas even more than he’d wanted him yesterday.

But it wasn’t just physical desire.

He’d be just as happy if Lucas came back to cuddle up next to him, to just talk. He could listen to Lucas talk for eternity.

He couldn’t have found a more perfect fake boyfriend if he’d searched the four corners of the earth.

Lucas was so incredibly caring, and generous, and sweet. Oh, he could be spiky too, and stubborn, and sassy, but it all endeared Eliott only more. He was smart and witty and fun. He made Eliott feel at ease. And the way he had defended Eliott with Lucille yesterday… and then he had been so calm about Eliott’s bipolar disorder, acting like it was no big deal…

He just kept surprising Eliott.

Like when he’d played the piano. His beautiful, beautiful fingers flying over the keys and his beautiful mouth calling out the name of the song, I love you.

He suddenly wished Lucas had actually played that song for him, actually meant it when he said those words to him.

And then he realised – he wouldn’t be able to find a more perfect _real_ boyfriend.

God, he needed to find Lucas. Tell him about these feelings. Tell him how wonderful he was. Ask him if they could start dating for real, maybe. Ask him if they could continue kissing, revisit what they did yesterday, take another step at some point… They could take things slowly, he would give Lucas all the time he needed, but he didn’t want to give this up. Even if Lucas didn’t feel the same yet… He’d be willing to wait for Lucas, willing to take the chance.

He didn’t bother getting dressed. He picked up a shirt and threw it on over his boxers, sauntering out, only one idea in his mind: Find Lucas.

He found Lucas at the breakfast table, talking to Sofiane, Vincent and Marie.

Now that finding Lucas was done, another part of his body started screaming at him, and he had a new goal: Kiss Lucas. Kiss Lucas until they both forgot their name.

But Lucas jumped up before he could do anything like that.

“I think I’ll go get packing up… I made a mess of my stuff, I’ll – I’ll need some extra time…”

It sounded like a lie. Considering Lucas had been lying to everybody for the past few days, the fact that this was the first sentence that sounded completely false must mean something, but Eliott was too shocked to do anything as Lucas passed by him, not looking at him, and disappeared.

Eliott sat down in silence. His hunger had suddenly vanished.

~

Breakfast had been a stilted affair. Eliott was upset and grumpy at everyone, Idriss, once he appeared, was gloomy about having to get back to Paris today, and Lucille had kept making pointed jabs at Eliott for missing his better half, suggesting first they must have had an argument, then changing tactics and making crude remarks about Lucas being too sore to walk this morning.

Eliott had slammed his fist on the table at that, and stormed out without a word, needing the fresh air to cool down.

Standing on the porch, nervously pulling on his lip, he wondered what had gone wrong.

He didn’t want to face anybody, but he didn’t know what to do.

He was afraid Lucas would not let him into their bedroom.

Was he angry with Eliott? Did he regret having sex with him? Eliott had been so certain Lucas was into it, wanted it too. They’d fell asleep together, as lovers. So what happened between then and now?

Maybe Lucas had time to think, and had decided he didn’t want Eliott like that.

Maybe yesterday had been a mistake, a way of comforting Eliott that had gotten out of hand.

But Lucas had wanted him just as much as he had wanted Lucas, he could have sworn on that.

Fuck.

He needed to talk to Lucas. But if Lucas didn’t want to talk to him, he should wait. Give Lucas time. He was the one who got Lucas into his mess.

They’d have time to talk later. They’d get out of here, away from this whole fake dating sham, back home where it was just the two of them.

Patience. Not his strong suit. His mind ran a thousand miles a minute. He needed to do something, distract himself, before he drove himself mad.

Sofiane cornered him as he was cleaning up the living room.

“Okay, spill. What did you do to Lucas?”

Eliott played dumb.

“What do you mean? I didn’t do anything.”

“Okay, fine, you didn’t do anything, but something did happen, Eliott. Lucas is obviously bothered by something. It seemed almost like he was avoiding you.”

“Why do you automatically assume it has something to do with me?”, Eliott replied hotly, defensively.

“He was fine before you came in. A bit quiet, but fine. And anyway, none of us had seen him since yesterday afternoon, until he came to get something to eat this morning, so I’d wager it has something to do with you.”

“Fuck. Okay, I think I may have fucked up, Sofiane. I – we – I had sex with him.”

“You had sex with Lucas? Fuck, Eliott.”

“I know. But he wanted it too, Sofiane, he was okay with it, I swear!”

“Eliott… Obviously he changed his mind. Fuck. The two of you aren’t together, in case you forgot.”

Eliott ran his hand through his hair.

“I didn’t forget, Sofiane! I know I shouldn’t have, but I just… I like him, Sofi. Really. A lot. Maybe we could start dating for real, I don’t know...”

Sofiane shook his head.

“Eliott… You crossed a line. And Lucas got hurt in the process. I always thought this whole charade would end up with one or both of you getting hurt.”

“I didn’t want to hurt him! And maybe it wasn’t all a charade. Just because we were only pretending to be together, doesn’t mean –”

A shrill voice interrupted him.

“I knew it! I knew you and Lucas were fake. I knew you were not over me. You were just trying to make me jealous, admit it!”

Fuck.

Eliott turned around, ready to tell Lucille to stay away from him, but once again she was faster.

“It’s okay, Eliott, I forgive you. Of course we can get back together. You know Lucas can’t give you what you need, but I can, Eliott. I am the only one who can.”

She jumped in his arms and kissed him on his mouth.

A small gasp came from behind her.

Eliott pushed her away, but it was too late. A shadow of a boy’s figure turning away was just visible in the door opening.

“Lucas!”, he yelled.

But Lucas kept running.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember, team Elu FTW. We'll get there, people. It wouldn't be SKAM if there wasn't some hell to go through that could have been entirely avoided with just some healthy and honest communication.
> 
> Even if you're mad at me, please feel free to point out any errors.
> 
> And even if all you want to do is scream murder at me, I really appreciate your comments!
> 
> <3


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I *should* be adulting right now. I have some paperwork to complete before tomorrow night, and if I don't get it in on time, I'll be fined. I haven't even started it yet, so yeah, that is what I *should* be doing.
> 
> Instead, well, it is la fête nationale in France today, and the radio has been playing les meilleures chansons françaises all day, and I just got in the mood for some Elu, I guess.
> 
> We're nearly there! 
> 
> <3

Lucas had run blindly into the woods, as fast as he could, only wanting to get away.

He kept hearing Lucille’s voice, taunting him.

_Lucas can’t give you what you need. I alone can give you what you need._

There was his answer, then. Eliott had sex with Lucas, and it had been enough to show him what he was missing out on.

Eliott and Lucille had kissed.

He wiped at the tears streaming over his face, furiously. He didn’t want to cry over Eliott. Eliott was just his pretend boyfriend, that’s all. They weren’t even friends. After today, he’d never see Eliott again. Eliott would marry Lucille, and they’d get 2.3 pretty blonde kids, and a spacious flat in some upscale Paris quarter, and they’d live happily ever after.

And Lucas would get over his stupid crush, get drunk enough to go with Mika to some gay night club, and go home with some dude, and have sex, so he could forget about Eliott’s hands on his body. He pressed his thumb into the mark Eliott left on his collarbone, taking stock of the dull ache. It would fade, and so would his fateful, doomed feelings for Eliott.

All he had to do was survive the trip home.

He’d suggest Eliott ride with Lucille. He could handle being with Idriss and Sofiane, probably, maybe, if he was lucky.

He steeled himself. He needed to practice this. Take the lead, have it all planned out. Say it out loud.

 _Hey, Eliott, so this is where we fake break up then, yeah?_ Laugh. _Glad you got back with Lucille. You should ride home with her._ Wave. _Thanks everybody, great weekend, bye!_ Get in Sofiane’s dad’s car, and pretend to sleep until they reached Paris.

He couldn’t do it. Everything inside him revolted.

If he couldn’t even get the words out to the trees, how was he supposed to do it with Eliott and Lucille there, all over each other, Eliott’s smile wide and bright?

He sank to his knees, the tears welling up again.

Then he heard footsteps.

Fuck.

Was that Eliott looking for him?

He couldn’t let Eliott see him like this.

He stood up and turned away from the sounds, trying to wipe his tears, calm his breathing. It was futile, he knew, his nose runny, his eyes red-rimmed.

Then he heard Sofiane’s voice, gentle.

“Lucas? Are you okay?”

Lucas shrugged. Sofiane came around and stood in front of him.

“Fuck. Not okay, then.”

Lucas tried to shrug again, failing miserably.

“Lucas, it’s not what you think. Eliott and Lucille, they’re –”

“I don’t want to talk about it, Sofiane, please.”

His voice was shaky, high-pitched. He hated it. Sofiane said nothing, just looked at him.

“Lucas, please listen, it’s not like that, he is not –”

“Please, Sofiane.”

Lucas made his voice sound cold, hard.

“It’s fine. Eliott never promised me anything. I knew everything was an act. I’m glad he realised he still had feelings for Lucille. I’m – I’m glad he got out of this what he wanted.”

“That’s not true, Lucas. You know why he did this. He wanted to get rid of Lucille once and for all.”

“Well, he changed his mind, didn’t he? We don’t have to talk about it, Sofiane. We can get home and you guys can forget about me.”

Sofiane was silent, but his eyes were sad. Lucas stared at the trees.

After a long pause, Sofiane spoke up again.

“Lucas, I can’t force you to do anything, but please, please, just talk to Eliott, will you? Let him tell you what happened.”

Lucas laughed. It sounded bitter, nearly cruel.

“I don’t think I owe Eliott anything, Sofiane.”

“No, you don’t,” Sofiane sighed, “but I really think you should. If you still want to disappear out of his life after that, Lucas, that is up to you, but just… Ten minutes, Lucas. Five.”

Lucas didn’t react, and Sofiane gave up.

“Okay. Still, you’ll have to sit in the same car with him for a couple of hours, Lucas. You don’t have to say anything, but will you let him talk?”

At that, Lucas broke down.

“Sofiane… no, please. I can’t ride home with him. Can’t he ride with Lucille and the others?”

“He can’t, Lucas, he won’t. He doesn’t want to. He wants to talk to you.”

“But I don’t want to talk to him! Sofiane, please.”

Sofiane sighed again.

“Then what do you suggest? We have only two cars here. Eliott doesn’t want to be in a car with Lucille – don’t scoff, Lucas, I’m not lying – and you don’t want to be in a car with him.”

“Then I’ll ride with Lucille.”

He must have a masochistic streak he didn’t know about before, he thought to himself, for volunteering to sit in a car for three to four hours listening to Lucille gloating about Eliott, humiliating Lucas.

But everything was better than having to bare himself to Eliott.

Sofiane sucked in his breath.

“Lucas…”

“I’m serious.”

Sofiane shook his head and muttered _Stubborn as fuck_ and _Knew this would end in fucking tragedy_. Right on the money, Sofiane, Lucas thought.

“Okay. Come on, let’s go.”

They walked back in silence.

Back at the cabin, the others had assembled at the front door, all their bags haphazardly strewn around them. Lucille looked triumphant, although she was standing next to Elise, not hanging all over Eliott. Lucas chanced a quick look around to see where Eliott was. He was standing on the other side of the porch, talking to Idriss. He didn’t look too happy, in fact, he looked thunderous. He probably was angry at Lucas, afraid Lucas’ tantrum would mess things up between him and Lucille.

Lucas stopped near the cars. Sofiane glanced at him and went over to Idriss and Eliott. As he came closer, Eliott looked up, noticing Lucas, and made a move in his direction. Sofiane grabbed his wrist, and said something to him. Eliott looked like he would murder Sofiane. He thought he heard Sofiane say something like _No right, Eliott, respect Lucas’ wishes_ and Eliott’s face fell. Then Sofiane launched a long explanation, pointing at the cars, Lucas, Lucille. Then Eliott shouted _No fucking way, Sofiane!_ and Sofiane started speaking again. There was a lot of arguing and gesturing, and in the end, Sofiane came back over to Lucas.

“He promises not to say anything during the trip back, Lucas. You can sit next to me, Idriss will sit in the back with him, and we won’t stop anywhere, and we will drop you off first.”

Lucas shook his head.

“Come on, Lucas. You don’t really want to sit in a car with Lucille for hours, do you?”

Lucas stood ramrod still, not wanting to give in, certain he’d break if he had to share the same air with Eliott again.

“Please, Lucas? I know you don’t owe any of us anything, but it’s as you said, after this you’ll never have to talk to us again. Three more hours, Lucas. Three and a half, at the most.”

Lucas tried to think clearly. The idea of being stuck in a car with Lucille was about as attractive as having his nails pulled out one by one. But being in a car with Eliott wasn’t ranking much lower on his list of most torturous pastimes.

But at least Sofiane seemed to be on his side somewhat. And if Eliott had promised not to talk to him… That was more than he could expect from Lucille.

He told himself that these were rational arguments. But as he nodded silently to Sofiane, he knew that he was lying to himself. Rational thought didn’t play a role in his decision.

He just couldn’t give up on Eliott just yet.

His treacherous heart wanted to hold on to hope for just a little bit longer.

***

The ride home was pure torment. Seeing Lucas sitting in the passenger seat, pretending to be asleep all the way, wanting nothing more than talking to him, explain everything to him, beg him to forgive him – it was all he could do to remember he’d promised not to try and speak to him just to get him to agree to get in the car with him.

A few hours ago, he’d thought he would find Lucas and suggest they’d get together for real, he’d been hoping he would never have to let go of Lucas ever again.

And now Lucas wouldn’t even look at him.

He’d fucked everything up. Royally.

No, fucking Lucille fucked everything up.

He’d almost slapped her, caught himself with his hand centimeters from her face.

At least she’d seemed to understand there was no chance in hell they’d ever get back together. He’d managed not to hit her, but he’d not been as considerate with his words. He’d called her a few choice names, told her to leave him alone once and for all and threatened her with bodily harm if she as much as looked at Lucas.

Lucas. If only he’d let him explain. Sofiane had mentioned something about Lucas being hurt, and it had set free a fluttering hope in his chest.

If Lucas was hurt, then last night must have meant something for him.

Something more than just his first sexual experience.

Did it mean _Eliott_ meant something to him?

If only Lucas would listen…

He contemplated just starting to talk. Just tell Lucas what happened. Tell him how he felt.

Sure, Lucas might pretend to be asleep, he might not react, might even pretend he didn’t listen, but he would hear. There was nowhere for him to go, he’d have no choice but hear Eliott out.

Sofiane would murder Eliott though, if he tried to pull a stunt like that.

Lucas had only agreed to get into the car on the condition Eliott wouldn’t try to talk to him.

Eliott shuddered. He couldn’t imagine letting Lucas ride back in the car with Lucille. She’d find even more ways to poison Lucas against Eliott. She’d been on them with barbed comments and stabs in the dark all weekend. Her little bombshell about Eliott’s mental disorder yesterday had backfired spectacularly, but her actions this morning might have finally succeeded in driving a wedge between Lucas and him.

At least she seemed to understand Eliott was never getting back together with her. It was a bittersweet victory, if it had cost him Lucas.

And she might just try to keep them apart, even if she couldn’t have Eliott herself, purely out of spite.

Even if she hadn’t understood what was going on – hell, Eliott himself barely understood what was going on – she had appeared so cruel, so vicious when Lucas and Sofiane had come back to the cabin, Lucas so bluntly refusing to come near Eliott, to talk to him.

It was only when he’d gotten in the car, he’d noticed Lucas’ red eyes and tear-stricken face.

It was as if somebody had kicked him squarely in the stomach. He had almost bent over double with guilt and remorse. He’d hurt Lucas, hurt him badly enough for him to want to run away from Eliott, hurt him badly enough to make him cry.

He never wanted to hurt Lucas ever again. He’d rather die than cause this boy pain. Lucas didn’t deserve pain, he should only ever experience joy and happiness and love. Lucas was made for laughter.

Eliott remembered the first time he’d heard Lucas laugh, before they entered Lucille’s party. How he’d been enthralled by Lucas even then. It seemed like a lifetime ago, now.

Again, he almost opened his mouth to start explaining himself, start begging Lucas for forgiveness.

He didn’t even care if Sofiane murdered him at this point.

Anything would be better than having to witness Lucas’ sorrow, knowing he was the only one to blame for it.

He’d just tell Lucas that yesterday had been life-changing for Eliott, that _Lucas_ had been life-changing.

But then he would betray Lucas’ trust. They hadn’t discussed telling anybody about what happened. Fuck, he’d already broken it by telling Sofiane. Another thing he’d have to apologize for, another thing Lucas might choose not to forgive him for.

He couldn’t bring it up now.

If he did, Idriss would know too, and Idriss might tell Imane, and Imane might bring it up around Lucas’ friends, and Lucas would hate Eliott even more. At least Sofiane was discreet.

The silence in the car was oppressive.

Even Idriss was quiet. Idriss didn’t know the full story, but the conversation between Eliott and Sofiane on the porch and Lucas’ face were enough of a hint to even the stupidest person alive that something was seriously messed up, and Idriss was a lot of things, but stupid was not one of them. He had tried to start some small talk when they’d all gotten into the car, but Lucas hadn’t acknowledged it. Eliott had refused to open his mouth. Sofiane had replied in monosyllabic sentences, and Idriss had given up quickly, as Lucas had leaned his head against the window and closed his eyes.

There must be a way to solve this.

Surely the universe had not brought Lucas on his path just to snatch him away again.

Surely he wouldn’t fall for a boy just to have him evaporate like that, in a snap of his fingers, leaving Eliott wondering if it all had been a dream. If it had been a dream, it had been the fucking best dream he’d ever had.

He opened his mouth again, ready to start talking, but he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t break his promise to Lucas. Not after everything else he’d already fucked up for Lucas.

Fuck it all.

He threw a pleading look at Sofiane in the rear-view mirror, but Sofiane’s mouth was a thin, grim line and his features were set in stone when he shook his head.

Then Sofiane turned on the radio. At least the silence wouldn’t kill him anymore.

But somewhere during the next two hours, the icy glares radiating from Sofiane and the pointedly not sleeping small figure in the passenger seat might.

~

They had stopped near Lucas’ building.

Testimony to his fake slumber, Lucas had opened his eyes as soon as Sofiane had pulled up. He’d gotten out of the car almost before Sofiane had hit the parking brake.

Idriss got out at a somewhat slower pace, moving around to open the trunk.

Lucas didn’t look at Eliott, instead standing there like a statue, ready to disappear as soon as he had his bag.

He’d vanish out of Eliott’s life. Eliott knew he wouldn’t get another chance. Lucas would block his number, refuse to open the door if he showed up here, plan his study dates with Imane in their high school library instead of at the Bakhellals – whatever it took to avoid Eliott completely.

And Eliott almost heard his heart break.

He couldn’t let Lucas get away like that.

He’d promised not to talk to Lucas during the ride home. But Lucas was out of the car now. In a flash, he opened his door and jumped out as well. He’d offer Lucas his heart – he already held it in his hands anyway.

“Lucas. Please don’t go. I – I like – no, I love you, Lucas.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please feel free to point out any errors!
> 
> Also, leave me a comment, if you'd like. It means so much to know what you all think about my stories.
> 
> <3


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we are, it's been a rollercoaster, but we've made it!
> 
> I want to thank you all so much for all your comments and support, it means so much! I never really intended to post longer stories like this one, but you've given me the confidence to keep going. I have some other Fake Relationship stories in the works, maybe not as long as this one though, and there's some stuff I have been working on for a while now, so we'll see which one gets finished first. Feel free to hit me up with a prompt too.
> 
> Anyway. Not saying goodbye yet, because I have part of a short(ish) epilogue written, so somewhere this weekend we'll come back to this universe one last time.
> 
> Thank you all and much love.
> 
> <3

Lucas didn’t move. He thought he had made it. He was out of the car, Idriss was taking his bag out of the trunk. One more minute, one measly minute, before he could crash into his bed and start collecting the pieces of heart – the ones he hadn’t left behind with Eliott, at least.

And then Eliott started speaking. He heard his voice through a haze, the words barely registering.

He didn’t even care about his bag anymore, just started walking to the door, away from Eliott.

“Lucas, please!”

“Why are you doing this, Eliott?”, he whispered, tears clogging up his throat.

He stopped moving. His legs felt like lead, and his heart shattered in his chest.

“Because I love you! Lucas, I’m serious…”

“You kissed Lucille…”

“She kissed me! And I pushed her away, I told her to leave me alone, told her I didn’t want her… Lucas, please, look at me…”

He couldn’t, though. He couldn’t move, could hardly breathe.

“Lucas. I’m in love with you. I know it’s insane, I know we hardly know each other, but I do. You are incredible, Lucas, so fucking beautiful, inside and outside. I know you don’t feel the same – why would you, after all the shit I put you through – but that’s fine. Just don’t walk out of my life, please. I want – hell, Lucas, it’s like I said. I want to give anything you want to take and I want to take anything you want to give. If that’s just being friends, I’ll take it… I know I have no right to ask anything of you, but – God. Lucas, say something, please.”

Lucas turned around slowly, but said nothing.

“Lucas?”

“You don’t want to get back with Lucille?”

“Fuck, Lucas,” Eliott huffed, laughing humourlessly. “Did you forget we started this whole thing so I could get rid of her?”

Lucas huffed right back at him.

“Okay, okay. I’m sorry, I guess I forgot about that when I saw the two of you kissing.”

“I’m so sorry about that, Lucas. I swear I didn’t want her to. I gave her a piece of my mind, Lucas. I think she gets it now.”

Lucas stared at Eliott, hesitating, weighing Eliott’s words in his mind.

“And… and you want me?”, he finally said, uncertainly.

“I do. I want you. Only you. How can you not know, after yesterday night?”, Eliott said, almost whispering the words, sounding reverently somehow.

“I thought… maybe you got swept up in pretending to be boyfriends… I thought maybe it was a one-time thing, you know, just because I was there…”

“Maybe I didn’t realise the full extent of my feelings yet yesterday, Lucas, but I wanted you before yesterday, I wanted you yesterday, and I want you now. I don’t want it to be just a one-time thing, but if you want to keep it a one-time thing then I’ll learn to live with it. I just want you in my life, Lucas. In any capacity you’ll have me.”

“So… we can be friends?”, Lucas asked.

Eliott looked a bit crestfallen, but he smiled.

“Yes. If that’s what you want. Please.”

Lucas smiled back at him.

Was this really happening? Was this gorgeous, courageous, amazing guy actually standing here in front of Lucas, telling him he loved him? That he wanted Lucas? He didn’t know what he did to deserve this, but he wasn’t about to question it.

“Okay,” he said, watching Eliott.

“Okay? Yes? Friends?”

Lucas nodded. Eliott opened his arms.

“Do you think we can be friends who hug?”

And Lucas couldn’t help himself. He laughed, freely, brightly. He took a step forward and lifted his chin, tilted his head up to Eliott.

“Maybe not friends who hug. How about friends who kiss?”

And Eliott didn’t wait another second. He pressed his lips on Lucas’, but they were both laughing, and it was not much of a kiss, rather a messy, sloppy connection of lips and teeth, but it felt like the most wondrous kiss ever to Lucas.

They broke apart when they heard Sofiane honk.

Idriss still stood on the pavement, holding Lucas’ bag, watching them with a hand on his hip, shaking his head. Sofiane had rolled down the window.

“You getting back in, Eliott?”

Eliott’s grin put the April sun to shame while Idriss handed Lucas his bag.

“I don’t think so. See you guys later.”

And he pulled Lucas close, watching Idriss get back in the car and Sofiane driving away.

“Friends who kiss, huh?”

He started peppering Lucas with kisses.

“I like that.”

Lucas pushed him away with both hands against his chest.

“You like that?”, he asked, seriously.

Eliott looked at him inquiringly.

“I do. Don’t you?”

“No,” Lucas declared. “I don’t. I have decided I want something else.”

Eliott raised his eyebrow in a question, his heart beating erratically against Lucas’ hands.

“I think I want to be boyfriends who kiss.”

Eliott smirked.

“Real, actual boyfriends?”

“Real, actual boyfriends,” Lucas replied. “Who kiss.”

Eliott looked at Lucas as if he wanted to eat him up.

“Take me upstairs, boyfriend. The way I want to kiss you right now is not exactly suited to a pavement.”

~

Lucas dragged his boyfriend – his _boyfriend_ – towards his bedroom, almost tumbling down in the process. As soon as the door was closed, Eliott pressed him against it, and, true to his word, started kissing him in a way that was definitely not suited to a pavement.

Eliott’s kiss was hot and deep in a matter of seconds.

Lucas was hot and bothered in a matter of seconds.

He pushed against Eliott’s chest again, making him walk backwards until he fell on the bed, never letting go of Lucas. Lucas fell on top of Eliott, but Eliott didn’t seem to mind, his arms snaking around Lucas’ back in an instant.

“God, Lucas,” Eliott moaned.

Lucas’ heart exploded at the sound. He melted into Eliott’s embrace, unbelieving that Eliott was his, for real. That he would get to kiss Eliott whenever he wanted. That Eliott wanted to kiss him, too.

That he was allowed to want Eliott. As in, want more than just kissing Eliott, amazing as that was.

He sat up on his knees.

Eliott’s eyes were on his lips, and Lucas licked them, slowly, deliberately. He noticed how Eliott’s grey eyes instantly became almost black, his pupils blown up with desire.

It was electrifying, this feeling of being wanted. Being wanted by _Eliott_.

Being _loved_ by Eliott.

In a gust of braveness, Lucas pulled off his shirt.

Eliott rewarded him with a groan.

“Fuck, Lucas – god. So hot.”

Lucas burst with all the love coursing through him.

“Eliott?”

Eliott hummed, his eyes roaming over Lucas’ face, Lucas’ body, as if waiting for permission to touch.

“You said you loved me.”

“I did. I do. I love you. I know it’s crazy to fall for your fake boyfriend, but I did it anyway.”

Lucas beamed.

“I must be crazy too, then.”

Something lit up in Eliott’s eyes, something wild and wondrous and magnificent.

“You are?”, he asked, his voice quiet, as if not wanting to break the tension simmering between them. Like he didn’t dare to believe what Lucas was implying.

“I am.”

“Lucas – are you – are you saying –”

“I love you too.”

Eliott’s smile could make planets leave their orbit. It healed all Lucas’ lingering doubts and fears as he let himself believe this was real, Eliott was real, their love was real.

Eliott kept gazing at Lucas with his wide, dark eyes. He didn’t move though, just laid on his back, staring up at Lucas.

“Eliott?”

“Lucas?”

“Do you think maybe we could be boyfriends who have sex?”

***

Eliott couldn’t believe his luck. He’d gone from exhilaratingly happy, to wanting to die, to even happier than before in less than a day, all because of the boy on top of him.

The boy he loved. The boy who loved him back. The boy who had just asked if they could have sex.

Wait. _Wait_.

Lucas had just asked if they could have sex.

Eliott’s muddled brain finally caught up.

Lucas asked if they could have sex.

Holy fuck.

As soon as Eliott’s heart started beating again, he rolled both of them over so he was now kneeling over Lucas.

Lucas had a head start. Eliott ripped off his shirt, not caring if he ruined it in the process. He felt heady under Lucas’ gaze, but Lucas wasn’t as willing to wait as Eiott had been, and he brought his hands to Eliott’s chest, caressing, putting them right over his beating heart.

“Lucas. I need you to take off your pants. I want you naked underneath me,” he stated bluntly, his blatant need pulsing through him.

Lucas stopped his motions.

“Okay. If you get naked too.”

Eliott didn’t reply, his hands already fumbling with his zipper.

They had to break apart for a moment, but before long they were naked and Lucas laid on his back again, as Eliott resumed his position on top of him.

Their dicks were hard and ready. They were both dripping pre-cum. Eliott moved his hips so their erections glided against each other, providing delicious friction. He looked Lucas straight in the eyes as he slowly brought his hand to Lucas’ mouth, tracing the outlines of his lips. Lucas didn’t look away as he sucked Eliott’s fingers in, wetting them thoroughly.

Eliott felt his dick twitch, close already, ready to erupt just watching the mouth-watering sight underneath him.

He pulled his fingers out of Lucas’ mouth, the luscious _pop_ sound it created doing things to his heart.

He wrapped his saliva-coated fingers around both their dicks, jerking them off.

He wasn’t far off. He could tell Lucas wasn’t either, his abs contracting, his moans getting louder.

“Lucas. What do you want? How do you want it? I’ll give you anything you want.”

Lucas stilled. He looked away, blushing.

“Eliott… I want you to – I want you inside me…”

Eliott lifted his head.

“Lucas… we need condoms for that, and lube…”

Lucas swore.

“Don’t you have any?”

Eliott soothed him with kisses all over.

“I didn’t exactly think I would be needing them… I hadn’t counted on falling in love with you. I hadn’t counted on getting lucky enough to get together with the hottest, most irresistible guy I’ve ever seen…”

Lucas pouted.

“You are the experienced one between us… You should have been prepared.”

Eliott laughed. He loved that they could be ready to explode one second, and then tease like this the next.

“I’m sorry, Lucas. I’ll be sure to pack the necessities when I go on a trip with my next fake boyfriend.”

Lucas’ glare was priceless.

“You won’t need a fake boyfriend anymore. Not when you have all of this.”

He vaguely indicated himself. Eliott giggled.

“You have a point. I don’t intend to let _all of this_ get away. I’m keeping my boyfriend.”

Lucas huffed.

“Oh yeah? How do you plan to do that, then, if you can’t even give him what he wants, huh?”

Eliott tickled Lucas’ side, gently.

“Next time. Don’t think for one second you can back out of it now, now you’ve planted the idea in my mind. I’ll dream about it until we do it.”

“Can’t we just… use something else?”

“No. No, Lucas, fuck. I am not going to risk hurting you. I already hurt you enough today.”

Lucas looked up at him, his eyes blue as the summer sky.

“I’m sorry I ran away. I’m sorry I refused to listen to you.”

“Hey,” Eliott breathed, stroking Lucas’ arm, his collarbone, the small bruise he’d left there yesterday, “It’s okay. You were hurt. I hurt you. But I’ll never hurt you again if I can help it, Lucas. I swear.”

“It’s okay,” Lucas breathed back, just as tenderly, “I forgive you. It doesn’t matter anymore. Not when we’re together.”

Eliott surged up to capture his lips in a searing kiss, until Lucas broke away, trying to look stern, but only managing to look incredibly cute.

“Although I am a bit upset about your lack of preparation. Especially since you promised to give me anything I wanted.”

He laughed, and Eliott gave in, laughing with him until his sides hurt.

“You brat. What happened to my sweet, shy Lucas, huh? Alright, let me make it up to you.”

Lucas pretended to mull over his words.

“What do you have in mind, then?”

Eliott licked a stripe over Lucas’ dick.

“Hmmm. It would probably involve an orgasm or two…”

“Confident much?”

God, this bratty side of Lucas was _adorable_.

“Mmmm, a bit. I may have a plan. Do you trust me?”

Lucas nodded, wide-eyed.

“Turn around then,” Eliott whispered, letting his hand slide down between Lucas’ legs, until he pressed lightly against his hole with his thumb.

“But… but you said –”

“I know what I said. But there’s other things we can try.”

Lucas blushed as he turned on his stomach without a word. Eliott kissed all over his naked back, delighting in the planes and muscles and Lucas’ sweet skin. He traced the orbs of Lucas’ ass with his fingers, kneading them slightly, pressing small kisses on Lucas’ thighs.

“We can stop whenever you want, baby. Just tell me, okay?”

Lucas nodded, his eyes closed, already lost in the feeling of Eliott’s hands, his breath on his sensitive skin.

“You are so fucking hot, Lucas. So fucking hot, just for me… I can’t believe this is not a dream. I can’t believe I am lucky enough to be here with you like this.”

Lucas moaned softly, interspersing it with chants of _Eliott, Eliott, Eliott_. It turned Eliott on like nothing ever had before. His dick was harder than ever, but it didn’t matter right now. All that mattered was Lucas. Maybe Lucas was all that had mattered since he had taken off his hood on that street corner over two weeks ago.

Eliott licked over the swell of Lucas’ ass, slowly, making sure Lucas was with him, before he pushed his tongue to Lucas’ hole.

Lucas bucked his hips violently, swearing out loud.

“Lucas? Tell me if you need me to stop.”

“Don’t stop. Please don’t stop.”

Eliott did as ordered, licking around Lucas’ hole, licking into it. He pressed his fingers against it, into it just a bit, almost too far gone on the sensations, but catching himself just in time. This was Lucas’ first time, and there was no fucking way in hell he was going to make this even the slightest bit uncomfortable for him.

He murmured words of encouragement, not sure if Lucas could understand them with his tongue otherwise occupied, but the way Lucas moaned his name whenever the vibrations of Eliott’s voice hit him were reward enough.

“You taste so good, baby… You are doing so good, Lucas, so perfect, so beautiful, all mine… So, so perfect. Lucas. My Lucas.”

He kept licking, teasing, mumbling until Lucas tensed.

“Eliott… I want to… I need to come, please…”

He pushed at Lucas’ hips, trying to get him to turn around, and Lucas obeyed. The look on his face took Eliott’s breath away, but he didn’t have time to stare at it, because Lucas needed Eliott to make him feel good.

He wrapped his lips around Lucas’ dick and started bobbing his head, hollowing his cheeks, swirling his tongue around Lucas’ dripping slit.

Lucas grunted out Eliott’s name, once, twice, before he came into Eliott’s mouth, hard.

It took Lucas a while to catch his breath, and Eliott licked his dick softly, with small catlike laps of his tongue, nipping with his lips.

As soon as Lucas came down from his high, however, he pulled Eliott up and looked him in the eyes with determination.

“Now you. I want to do that for you.”

Eliott nodded, overwhelmed by his want.

“I’m not going to last, Lucas. You drive me mad.”

Lucas pushed him onto his back, and crawled down over his chest, leaving kisses where he could.

“Eliott, I – tell me if I’m not… Tell me if it doesn’t feel good…”

“Oh, god, Lucas. You don’t have any idea what you do to me, do you?”

Lucas looked up at him, his lips hovering over Eliott’s dick, and he felt the precum dribble out.

“Lucas. Fuck. You are going to make me come before you get your mouth on me. Please, Lucas.”

He wasn’t above begging, but Lucas’ eyes grew dark and he started licking Eliott’s dick, lapping at the precum, making Eliott moan uncontrollably, until he finally took the head in his mouth and sucked softly.

“God, Lucas! Just like that… don’t stop, please…”

Lucas seemed encouraged by his reactions, because he started moving his head, experimentally, finding a rhythm, finding a pressure with his lips and his tongue that made Eliott wild with lust.

“I’m close… Lucas, if you don’t want to – you need to stop soon, Lucas – or I’m gonna come in your – Lucas!”

Lucas had grabbed Eliott’s dick with his fist, moving it up and down along Eliott’s length in the same rhythm as his mouth was gliding over him, and Eliott’s orgasm hit him harder than ever.

Lucas swallowed, and let go of Eliott’s dick.

“Was that… was that good?”, he asked, sounding almost shy.

Eliott pulled him up, and kissed him, not caring about his own taste on Lucas’ lips.

“Good? Fuck, Lucas, that was so much better than good. I’m not ever letting you go, Lucas. Not ever.”

“Good. I don’t want you to.”

“Never.”

Lucas smiled.

“I love you, Eliott.”

“I love you too. Best boyfriend ever.”

“Even better than your fake one?”

“God. So much better.” Eliott laughed, freely. “Although if I had known it would end up with having you in my arms, I would have gotten a fake boyfriend years ago.”

Lucas joined in the laughter.

“If I had known it would end up with being in your arms, I might have gone the pretending to date route years ago, too. I should do Imane a favour more often.”

“Oh, is that what it was? To get you to come to that party with me? A favour to Imane? God, Lucas, way to crush a guy’s confidence.”

“Mmmm.”

Lucas pressed his leg in between Eliott’s, feeling Eliott’s dick swelling up again.

“Doesn’t seem too crushed to me. Hottest favour ever. Although it might have been in vain. I’ll probably fail my bac anyway, now.”

Eliott didn’t really follow, but he didn’t care too much, pressing kisses all over Lucas’ skin, feeling Lucas getting hard again against his thigh.

“Hmmm? Why is that?”

Lucas’ breathing got laborious, and the words came haltingly.

“No time to study… Busy with more… pleasurable… activities…”

And Eliott could fully get behind that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 💙💙💙
> 
> Feel free to point out any errors.
> 
> And as always, if you want to leave me a comment, please do not hesitate; you might just make my day!
> 
> <3


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, peeps, here is the epilogue, and our final goodbye to this AU!
> 
> The other fake dating verses are gonna have to wait a bit, I don't want them to end up too similar to this one.
> 
> But I am working on another longer story which might be ready in a week if I'm lucky. I have also planned some outlines for some one shots (but who knows, this was supposed to be a 3000 word one shot too).
> 
> And I really want to do a soulmate AU too, but I don't know yet how I want to work that exactly.
> 
> Anyway, y'all are not interested in all that, so let's get to it!
> 
> Hope you enjoyed the ride!
> 
> <3
> 
> PS I changed the rating. I have no idea exactly what the difference between M and E is, but better safe than sorry.

“Hey, Lucas, I heard miracles still happen! You got a pretty high score, right?”

Imane, holding Sofiane’s hand, came up to Lucas and Eliott, as the latter two sat a few meters apart from the rest, Eliott’s back against a tree, Lucas straddling him, making out just a bit too heavily for a public park. Lucas and his friends had decided to meet up to celebrate their bac results, or drown them in alcohol, whichever suited best.

Lucas slowly pried himself away from Eliott, standing up to face Imane.

“Not as high as yours, I suppose. But yeah, I guess I managed to peel myself away from my hot boyfriend for your gruelling study sessions often enough. Hi, Sofiane.”

Sofiane grinned widely.

“Hello, Lucas. Hi, Eliott. Word is that the two of you are now officially surgically attached.”

Lucas looked at Eliott, who shrugged. Their friends had been giving them shit for weeks now – about how they were constantly touching, about how their phones had become fixed extensions of their hands on the rare occasions they did find themselves apart, about how their Instagram accounts only contained sappy pictures of them together anymore.

“Just because you don’t have the most perfect boyfriend in the world,” Eliott muttered, leaning his head on Lucas’ shoulder and pressing a kiss to his collarbone.

Sofiane held up his hands.

“You can have him, Eliott, I already have the most perfect girlfriend.”

They all laughed, except Imane, who blushed and fiddled with her hijab. Lucas gave her a fistbump.

“Hey, at least the two of us are the most perfect partners!”

Imane laughed along at that.

“Our study partnership definitely proved fruitful, I’d say. A boyfriend and your bac. I really saved your life.”

“And mine,” Eliott interjected. “I still owe you a thank you, Imane, for getting Lucas to go along with fake dating me.”

“Yeah, well, if I had known you two would hit it off, I’d have introduced you guys a lot sooner!”

“So you hadn’t planned for us to fall for each other, then?”, Lucas asked. “Because I must admit I have been wondering.”

“No, I had no idea. It was more that the girls were either dating or I didn’t think they’d be a lot of help, and you, Lucas, were the only one of the boys who was even an option. Not that you were very enthusiastic either! I had to blackmail you, if I recall correctly. I’m glad it all worked out the way it did, but I didn’t see this coming.”

“Well, I did!”, Sofiane declared. “It was clear from the way Eliott looked at Lucas that first evening. He was whipped.”

“What?”, Eliott retorted. “You’re just making that up.”

“I swear I’m not. Why do you think I was so against the two of you going on that trip together? I knew you’d fall for him head over heels. And you didn’t do a lot to prove me wrong, either, with your hand holding and your hugging all the damn time.”

“We were pretending to be dating!”, Eliott hotly argued.

“Don’t give me crap, Eliott. You did it when you thought nobody was watching too. Whipped from the start, I tell you. I just thought you’d get your heart broken, and you’d crawl back to Lucille.”

Lucas felt Eliott’s grip on his hip tighten.

“Well, you may be right about the whipped part,” he said softly, staring at Lucas. “You can hardly blame me, though.”

Lucas stood on tiptoe and brought his hand up to Eliott’s jaw, pulling him closer for a kiss. He felt how Eliott’s hand came up to brush his face with his knuckles, and for a second, he thought about how they’d kissed for a million times by now, and yet it still felt as electrifying and mind-blowing as that first time at the cabin.

Their kiss turned deeper, until they heard a yell from Yann.

“Oi, Lucas! Stop sucking face with your boyfriend and come over here!”

Lucas blushed, but flipped Yann off over Eliott’s shoulder and yelled back: “What are you offering that I can’t get from Eliott, Cazas?”

Yann laughed.

“Oh, we’re not going into that… But for now, how about a beer?”

The sun had sunk lower, and the group had settled down in a haphazard circle on their blankets, passing around beers and snacks. Hand in hand, Lucas and Eliott made their way over, and plopped down between Yann and Arthur. Lucas had to sit between Eliott’s legs to fit in the circle, but that was his favourite place to be anyway, so it didn’t matter.

He looked around contently, happy to be here with all his friends. The summer heat had died down a bit, but it had made them all a bit tired, and the conversation was quiet. Lucas closed his eyes, letting himself relax against Eliott’s chest, not contributing a lot. Eliott’s fingers softly combed through Lucas’ hair, and he felt like his heart was not big enough to contain his joy.

Until Emma, who had been drinking vodka for the last hour or so, got bored of just sitting around.

“Come on, guys, we should do something. Why don’t we play a bit of Truth or dare?”

Lucas’s eyes flew open.

“No _fucking_ way,” he declared, loudly and deadly serious, at the same time as Eliott said in the same tone of voice: “Absolutely not.”

And that apparently was a bit too suspicious, especially combined with Sofiane’s giggling, because Yann narrowed his eyes as everybody looked at the pair of them.

“And why not?”, he asked. “I smell something fishy here. And I’m willing to bet it has something to do with how the two of you got together.”

Affirmative noises came from the rest of the group, and Lucas groaned.

“I’ve told you a dozen times already, we met at a party.”

Arthur piped up: “And we told you a dozen times already, we don’t buy that story for a second.”

Lucas looked up at Eliott for support, but Eliott just chuckled. He didn’t understand why Lucas still hadn’t told his friends the truth.

“Sorry, babe.”

“Traitor,” murmured Lucas, but he pressed his lips to Eliott’s hand. “Ugh! Why don’t you ask Sofiane, then, if you don’t believe me, he was there too!”

“Oh, no, Lucas, don’t pull me into this! I’ve had enough of your and Eliott’s dating issues for a lifetime.”

And Lucas couldn’t help but smile at him. Eliott had thanked Imane, but Lucas knew they owed Sofiane just as much, for coming to find Lucas after he ran from the cabin, and for not letting him get into a car with Lucille.

“Just tell them, baby,” Eliott mumbled. “I really don’t care.”

“Oh, okay, fine then. We didn’t meet at a party exactly. We met two minutes before we went to a party together, pretending to be dating. And we were so good at pretending that now we are together for real. Okay?”

A chorus of questions burst from his friends, and Lucas covered his ears with his hands.

“Stop, stop! What do you guys want now? I told you how it happened!”

But that didn’t satisfy anybody, and repeated queries of _But why?_ and _Whose idea was this?_ flew around.

Eliott decided to intervene.

“Ok, guys, it was my fault. I wanted to get somebody else off my back and I thought being seen with a new boyfriend would help. But then I fell head over heels for Lucas before we even made it to the party and that’s really all there is to it, okay?”

Somehow, this seemed to quell most of the curiosity of Lucas’ friends, as the questions died down. Yann sputtered about Lucas not trusting his bro with this earlier and Manon noted sharply that Imane knew more about the whole thing, but other than that, everybody settled down again. Lucas stared at Eliott until Alexia spoke up.

“So what’s the problem with Truth or dare, then?”

Eliott shrugged.

“We had to play it while we were faking it, and the questions were rather awkward.”

Sofiane now giggled uncontrollably.

“Stop laughing, Sofiane,” Lucas snapped. “It was not funny.”

“It is funny now, though, Lucas,” he said, his shoulders still shaking. “But, yeah, guys, maybe no Truth or dare with these two. It was uncomfortable to watch them being all over each other during that game when they were still pretending. I really don’t want to hear their answers now they are actually together.”

“Well said, Sofiane,” Lucas said. “Besides, Eliott and I need to go, anyway.”

“We do?”, Eliott asked.

“We do. Remember? You needed to… call your mother for her birthday.”

He stood up, pulling Eliott along, and they both ignored the hollers and catcalls. Lucas heard Arthur yell _Use protection, Lucas_ , but he couldn’t care less.

As soon as they were out of sight, he stopped. Eliott chuckled.

“I didn’t know it was my mom’s birthday today.”

“Oh, fuck off,” Lucas said. “Was that true, what you told them?”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

“You said you fell for me that first evening.”

“Oh,” Eliott said, comprehension in his eyes. “Yeah, I suppose. I knew I was fucked from the start. You were so incredibly cute, and when you laughed, I just wanted to wrap myself in the sound of it. And that was before you even put Lucille in her place. Sofiane was right, I was completely whipped.”

Lucas looked at Eliott. Every time he thought he couldn’t love this boy more, every time he thought his heart couldn’t swell any more before it jumped out of his chest, Eliott did something, casually, without even knowing which effect he had on Lucas, and he was proven wrong.

“Eli?”

“Hmmm?”

“Let’s get out of here. I need to get you naked.”

Eliott laughed, and pulled a condom and a packet of lube out of his back pocket.

“We don’t need to get out of here to have some fun.”

Lucas laughed too. He loved how Eliott carried this stuff around now. He said it was because he wanted to give his boyfriend whatever he wanted whenever he wanted it, having already failed to do that once.

“I see, Mr. Demaury. You want to get into my ass.”

“Hmmm… maybe…”

“Maybe? What kind of an answer is that? You either want to get into my ass or you don’t, Eliott.”

“Well, I do. I always do. I always will, baby. But I also want to get my mouth on you, so I’m a bit conflicted here.”

Lucas thought he’d be up for anything Eliott might suggest. They’d always been open about what worked for them, and so far, they hadn’t really found anything that didn’t. Lucas loved to be fucked by Eliott, but they didn’t always end up there, sometimes going for blow jobs or hand jobs, and he loved those just as much. So he batted his eyelashes and looked up at Eliott teasingly.

“Sounds like a you problem.”

Eliott swatted Lucas on his biceps.

“Brat. But you are right, it is a me problem. You’re so fucking hot I can’t choose how I want you. I said it before, I couldn’t care less about positions as long as I’m with you.”

Lucas giggled.

“That stupid Truth or drink game! I was so embarrassed.”

Eliott laughed.

“You kissed me, though. Thank God.”

“Well, yeah. You were driving me insane that night. You were so fucking beautiful and you looked at me with all that… heat in your eyes and I thought you were just a very good actor.”

“I never was a good actor… I just really wanted you. Did I ever tell you I had a rather explicit fantasy about you the first night we were there, while you were in the shower?”

“Oh my god! Really?”

Eliott hummed.

“Had to take a very cold one myself, that night. The things I had to suffer for you.”

Lucas laughed.

“I’m so sorry, Mr. Demaury. I had no idea of the injustices you endured on my account. Maybe I can offer my services to you now, though?”

Eliott pressed Lucas against the nearest tree and kissed him hard.

“Home. Now,” he grunted.

They’d better hurry up before he decided giving Eliott a blowjob behind the shrubbery was a good idea, was Lucas’ last sensible thought as they started running.

***

As it turned out, for once the way the summer heat crept into the old cramped Parisian flats worked out in Eliott’s favour. It was too hot to sleep, and since they were sweaty anyway, he and Lucas had no qualms about getting even sweatier.

Eliott had gotten Lucas off with his mouth first, and was now staring at his boyfriend straddling him, slowly sinking down on top of him. His face was still that of an angel, his wide-open eyes the deepest Madonna blue, his lips prettily pink, wet and swollen from biting them, open in a perfect o, his hair spiky as ever. But his body – god, his body was pure sin, his collarbone mottled with the bruises Eliott had left behind, his back showing three deep scratches, his dick hard and red, bobbing with Lucas’ movement, covered in cum and saliva from Eliott’s earlier efforts, his strong legs holding him upright as his arms were stretched out behind him, his hand palms flat on the mattress, his back arched exquisitely, his thighs trembling with the effort of riding Eliott. Everything about Lucas was mouth-watering, but Eliott’s eyes kept returning to where their bodies were joined, where he saw his dick sliding in and out of Lucas’ tight hole. The sensation was overwhelming, but the sight of it was devastating. He could come any second.

“Lucas… Baby, touch yourself, please…”

“Not yet,” Lucas ground out. “Don’t wanna come yet.”

“Baby… hurry up… I’m not gonna last.”

Lucas raised an eyebrow.

“Sounds… like… a you problem…”

He tried to appear stern, but he was panting and Eliott knew his boyfriend by now.

They had spent nearly every night of the past three months together. They had toothbrushes, spare clothes, and extra chargers at each other’s flats, and Mika and Lisa had grown accustomed to Eliott on their couch or at the kitchen table, although they did learn the hard way to keep him away from the stove. Only when Lucas was writing his bac, they’d decided to sleep apart to give Lucas time enough to study and rest. It had been horrible. They’d video chatted late at night, joking about how they went back to their roots, but neither of them had been sleeping well, and during the fourth night, Lucas had gotten out of bed at two a.m., exhausted and needing to actually sleep to be able to survive his Maths test, and gotten on the bus to Eliott’s in his pyjamas. He’d texted Eliott to open up, and Eliott, still awake without his boyfriend’s body to cuddle up to, had opened the door before he’d finished reading the text. They’d hugged, kissed, and fallen into bed, too tired to do more than whisper _I love you_ and _Good night_ before finally getting their long-needed slumber. That had been the last time they’d tried that – and if their friends wanted to call them interdependent, fuck them.

The upshot was that Eliott knew how to read Lucas.

And right now, for all his bravado, Lucas was very turned on, and a turned-on Lucas was a pliant Lucas.

So Eliott just grabbed Lucas’ dick and gripped, hard.

“I can make it a you problem…”

The stream of profanities that tumbled from Lucas’ angelic mouth could tempt any saint – and Eliott was no saint to start with.

He let go of Lucas’ dick and his hands found purchase on Lucas’ hips.

“Come on, baby. Touch yourself. Let me watch how you come for me.”

Using his hands on Lucas’ hips to keep him steady, he started bucking up into him, and Lucas gave in with a groan, rebalancing himself on his knees as he started jerking off. The angle change meant that Eliott hit his prostate more often, and Lucas moaned with every stroke of Eliott’s dick. Eliott wasn’t sure if this was actually helping any, since Lucas clenched around him even harder like this, but he was too far gone to stop now.

“Fuck, Lucas… God. How are you real? So close, baby… so close…”

“Me too, Eliott… Fuck, love you…”

Afterwards, Eliott had no idea who came first, since he would swear the sight of Lucas coming set him off, while Lucas said he’d come after feeling Eliott exploding inside him – not that he cared.

He only cared about Lucas.

Lucas, who right now was looking way too smug at him.

“So, Mr. Demaury, did you enjoy my services then?”

Eliott laughed, tickling Lucas.

“You really are a brat. But yeah, better than a cold shower, I must admit, Mr. Lallemant.”

Lucas yawned.

“You were not too bad yourself, Mr. Demaury, but a cold shower does sound pretty much like paradise. If only I could move…”

He pouted at Eliott, blue eyes innocently blinking up at him.

And who was Eliott to deny his boy anything? Without further ado, he picked Lucas up and carried him bridal style to the bathroom.

Of course, neither of them was exactly surprised when a cold shower turned steamy in a matter of minutes.

It was much later when they finally were spooning under the thinnest sheet they could find.

Eliott kissed Lucas on the back of his shoulder, and tangled his hand in Lucas’ hair.

There was a time when he felt talking to Lucas until he fell asleep was heavenly.

Now, holding Lucas’ peaceful limp body in his arms, his arm over Lucas’ chest rising and falling with Lucas’ breath, enveloped in Lucas’ warmth, Lucas’ smell, he knew how wrong he had been back then.

He kissed his boyfriend. His angel.

This. This was heaven.

Lucas murmured something, something that sounded like _Love you_ , and Eliott thought he could die of happiness.

"Love you too," he breathed, trying to envelop Lucas even closer, even though it was physically impossible. But laws of physics be damned. As long as he had Lucas in his arms, miracles happened all the fucking time, anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please feel free to point out any errors. I skipped my usual 24 h waiting period between finishing the editing and the final proofread :)
> 
> Also, if you'd like, comments really make my day.
> 
> <3


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